JL/  uTkiran     J<Hr»**H.*L 


*/<ry  ^u^m,  a  Co  4\/ 


a 


V 


^Xioiuvi'c      7Vl.     /OuicL 


r» 


&>*i  a  i 


-jltrwi*      /hi 

lie*]      ^A^7t>/V    r7fi 


7 


vUiiT 


/fl>r 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D. 


BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


9&fS 


QU 


TH  E 

E  V  A  N  G  E  L  I  C  A  L 


)  T 


>      17 


NO.  LXI. 


J  A  N  U  A  R  Y ,     18  6  5, 


y   ARTICLE  IIL 

LUTHERAN  HYMNOLOGY. 
By  Rev.  Frederic  M.  Bird,  A.M.,  Philadelphia. 

The  present  article  proposes  to  deal  neither  with  the 
abundant  treasures  of  original  German  hynmology,  nor 
■with  the  narrow  field  occupied  by  such  sacred  verses  as  indi- 
viduals of  our  communion  mav  have  written  in  the  English 
language.  The  former  subject  would  require  a  volume,  the 
latter  would  scarcely  admit  a  paragraph.  Our  business  is 
with  such  Hymn  Books  as  the  Church,  or  her  members  have 
published  "for  the  use.  edification,  and  comfort"  of  such  of 
the  flock  as  are  American  born,  or  thoroughly  anglicized. 
Of  these  English  hymnals  there  are,  or  have  been,  more 
than  people  in  general  are  aware,  and  of  them  in  succession 
we  shall  aim  to  give  accounts  as  fair  and  full  as  they  may 
deserve,  or  the  readers  of  the  Quarterly  desire. 

The  City  of  New  York  took  the  lead  in  this  business. 
Comparing  the  present  with  the  past,  it  is  not  encouraging 
to  know  that  the  Lutheran  Church  or  churches  in  that  city 
were  wealthy,  active,  and  liberal  enough  to  publish  for  them- 
selves successively,  between  the  years  1795  and  1806,  three 
English  hymn  books.  Of  these  volumes,  which  are  all  in- 
teresting and  important  to  the  lover  of  our  Church  litera- 
ture and  history,  the  two  earlier  are  very  scarce,  and  the 
last  by  no  means  common.  Dr.  Reynolds,  writing  on  this 
subject  in  the  Review  for  October,  1859,  devoted  three  pages 


24  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

to  the  first  of  these  compilations,  but  was  unacquainted  with 
its  successors.  The  present  writer  has  them  all  buddy  before 
him,  and  aims  to  set  their  spirit,  at  least,  before  his  readers. 

Dr.  Kunzes  Hymn   Boole.  1796.  240  Jli/rnns. 

The  title  page  reads :  "A  Hymn  and  Prayer  Book  :  For 
the  Use  of  such  Lutheran  Churches,  as  use  the  English  Lan- 
guage. Collected  by  John  C.  Kunze,  D.  D.,  Senior  of  the 
Lutheran  Clergy  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Coll.  3:  16, 
Teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  in  Psalms.  New 
York:  Printed  and  sold  by  Hurtin  &  Commardinger,  No. 
450,  Pearl  Street,  [with  privilege  of  copy-right,]  17'.!5." 

The  book,  (also  its  two  successors,)  is  a  very  little  larger 
than  the  common  edition  of  the  well-known  collection  of  the 
New  York  Synod,  (of  which  we  shall  speak  hereafter,)  and 
is  printed  with  about  the  same  sized  type.  The  Preface  cov- 
ers three  pages,  and  contains  some  interesting  historical  mat- 
ter. 800  pages  are  occupied  with  the  hymns,  and  163  by 
the  Liturgical  and  other  prose  matter,  containing  the  Litur- 
gy, the  Epistles  and  Gospels  for  the  year,  Luther's  Shorter 
Catechism,  "Fundamental  Questions,"  "The  Order  of  Salva- 
tion," "The  Christian  Duties,"  (these  three  cover  13  pages.) 
A  short  account  of  the  Christian  Religion  ;  a  short  account 
of  the  Lutheran  Church;  the  seven  Penitential  Psalms,  and 
some  forms  of  Prayer.  Much  of  this  matter  merits  descrip- 
tion, if  only  for  its  antiquity  and  curiousness  ;  but  this  is  not 
the  place  to  present  it.  We  return  to  our  hymns,  which  are 
arranged  as  follows  :     (I  copy  from  the  table  of  contents.) 

1.  On  Advent  and  Christmas,  hymn  1 ;  2.  New  Year,  16  ; 

8.  Lent,  22;  4.  Easter,  46;  5.  Ascension,  51;  6.  Whit 
Sunday,  54  ;   7.  Trinity,  59;  8.  Creation  and  Providence,  63  ; 

9.  Redemption,  72  ;  10.  Justifying  Faith,  88  ;  11.  Word  of 
Cod,  121;  12.  Catechisation,  123;  13.  Baptism,  126;  14. 
Lord's  Supper,  128  ;  15.  Sanctiflcation,  141 ;  16.  Praise  of 
Cod,  172  ;  17.  Morning,  190;  18.  Evening,  193  ;  19.  Com- 
plaints and  Consolation,  201;  20.  Prayer  and  Intercession, 
207 ;  21.  Funeral  Occasions,  210  ;  22.  Different  Matter  in 
an  Appendix,  221. 

Next,  for  the  origin  of  these  hymns.  The  Preface  says  : 
"Most  all  of  the  hymns  are  translations  from  the  German, 
and  were  used  before  in  their  churches.  All  except  those 
in  the  appendix  are  taken  from  printed  books,  particularly 
the  German  Psalmody,  printed  in  London  and  re-printed  in 
New    York,  by  II.  Gaine,    1756,    with    which   many  serious 


Lutheran  Ilymnology .  25 

English  persons  have  been  greatly  delighted  ;  and  from  an 
excellent  collection  of  the  Moravian  Brethren,  printed  in 
London,  1789.  In  the  appendix  only  I  have  taken  the  lib- 
erty to  add  a  few  of  ray  own,  and  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Ernst's 
and  Strebeck's,  both  translations  and  original  composi- 
tions." Of  the  twenty  separate  productions  \u  this  "Appen- 
dix," six  have  the  initial  of  Dr.  Kunze,  five,  of  his  assistant 
Strebeck,  and  four,  of  Ernst  ;  No.  238  is  the  "Litteny,"  in 
prose  ;  240  is  "Watts'  Cradle  Hymn  ;  239  "The  Golden 
Alphabet;"  happily  anonymous,  while  two  metrical  mongrels 
which  may  be  called  by  courtesy  hymns  bear  no  initial,  but 
exhibit  the  same  peculiar  style  of  grammar  and  rhetoric  by 
which  this  Teutonic  trio  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
neighboring  pieces.  Of  the  literary  character  of  these  com- 
positions we  shall  speak  below. 

Of  the  220. hy runs  in  the  body  of  the  book,  70  appear  to 
be  of  English  origin.  Watts  supplies  13,  Charles  Wesley  7, 
Newton  4,  Hart  3,  Cowper  2,  Kerr  2,  Hammond  2,  Dodd- 
ridge, Steele,  Toplady,  Mason,  Wesley,  Si\,  Erskine,  Mrs. 
Palmer,  and  Langford,  each  one,  and  11  are  anonymous^ 
(This  is  our  own  computation  ;  author's  names  are  nowhere 
indicated,  except  in  the  appendix  with  the  few  hymns  mark- 
ed K.  S.,  and  E.)  And  13  more,  which  are  found  in  the 
Moravian  Collection  of  1789,  appear  to  be  of  English  Mora- 
vian  origin. 

The  remaining  150  hymns  are  translated  from  the  Ger- 
man :  three  of  them  by  John  Wesley,  the  rest  by  anonymous 
Moravian  writers.  75  are  taken  from  the  aforementioned 
book  of  1789  :  the  rest  are  doubtless  all  from  the  Psalmodia 
Germanica,  published  in  1756  and  earlier.  Of  that  curious 
and  important  work  the  present  writer,  unfortunately  neither 
possesses  nor  has  seen  a  copy :  he  is  thus  unable  to  verify 
the  origin  of  nearly  one-third  of  Dr.  Kunze's  hymns.  But 
it  seems  probable  that  Dr.  Kunze  neither  owned,  nor  used  to 
any  extent,  any  other  English  hymnals  than  the  two  men- 
tioned ;  for  must  of  the  purely  English  hymns,  Watts',  Wes- 
ley's, and  the  rest,  are  found  in  the  Moravian  book  of  1789. 
We  are  safe,  therefore,  in  fathering  the  seventy-odd  hymns, 
not  otherwise  accounted  for,  upon  the  Psalmodia  Germanica, 
of  which  'J.  C.  Jacobi  was  the  chief  translator. 

The  Psalmodia  Germanica  is  supposed  by  Dr.  Reynolds  to 
have   been   a   Lutheran   rather    than  a  Moravian  work.     In 
that  case  the  translations  in  Dr.  Kunze's  book  are  derived  m 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  61.         4 


26  Lutheran  1 1  limnology . 

equal  parts  from  Lutheran  and  Moravian  sources.  But  very 
many  of  the  English  Moravian  renderings  are  made  from 
Lutheran  sources,  especially  Gerhardt ;  so  that  (what  has 
occured  in  no  subsequent  English  hymnal,)  more  than  half 
the  contents  are  of  Lutheran  origin. 

The  literary  merit  of  these  contents,  of  course,  varies 
greatly.  Some  few  verses  are  excellent,  more  are  respecta- 
ble, most  are  indifferent  and  negative,  while  several  are  bet- 
ter adapted  to  kindle  mirth  than  devotion.  The  original 
English  hymns,  for  the  most  part,  are  neither  the  best,  nor  the 
worst  of  their  kind.  Of  the  translated  lyrics,  perhaps  half 
are  in  the  irregular  German  metres,  not  easily  singable  out 
of  their  native  tongue  :  the  rest  are  L.  M.,  C.  M.,  and 
other  familiar  measures.  The  opening  verses  of  the  volume, 
ami  many  afterwards,  go  smoothly  enough  to  have  been  ac- 
ceptable, 70  years  ago  : 

Nuw  the  Saviour  comes  indeed,         To  the  wonder  of  mankind, 
Of  the  virgin  mother's  seed,  By  the  Lord  himself  designed. 

Not  a  few  of  the  hymns  flow  with  a  strong,  if  rough,  cur- 
rent, and  begin  with  most  vigorous  and  startling  bursts  of 
sense  and  sound,  thus  No.  54  : 

"Retake  thy  own  possesion,  Thou  glorious  guest  of  hearts  1" 

Hymn   128: 

"Trim  thy  lamp,  0  soul  betrothed  !" 

Hymn  142: 

Stormsand  winds  may  blowandbatter  Deem  these  trials  no  great  matter, 
Nay  life's  vessel  overwhelm  :  For  our  Saviour  guides  the  helm.'' 

Hymn  98: 

How  bright  appears  the  morning  star, 

With  grace  and  truth  beyond  com-  The  royal  root  of  Jesse  !" 
pare, 

Several  of  our  noblest  and  most  famous  German  hymns 
are  rendered  with  some  appreciation  and  force  ;  though  we 
can  do  better  by  them  now.     Here  is  the  first  verse  from  : 

"EM  feste  Bury :'' 
"God  is   our  refuge  in  distress,         Th'  infernal  enemy, 
Our  strong  defence  and  armor,  Look  !  how  enraged  is  he  I 

He's  present,  when  we're  comfortless,  He  now  exerts  his  force 
In  btorms  He  is  our  harbor  :  To  stop  the  gospel-course  ; 

Who  can  withstand  this  tyrant?" 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  27 

And  from  the  not  less  glorious  : 

"Befii'hl  du  deine  Wege  :" 
"Commit  thy  ways  iind  goings,  Iiu  makes  the  times  and  seasons, 

And  all  that  grieves  thy  soul,  Revolve  from  year  to  year, 

To  Him  whose  wisest  doings,  And  knows  ways,  means, and  seasons, 

Rule  all  without  control.  When  help  shall  best  appear." 

And  from  that  unequalled  Passion-hymn  : 
" 0  Haupt,  volt  BluL  und  Wunden  :" 
"0  Head  so  full  of  bruises,  When  I  thy  toil  and  passion, 

So  full  of  pain  and  scorn,  Can  in  some  measure  trace! 

Midst  other  sore  abuses,  *         *         *         *         * 

Mocked  with  a  crown  of  thorn  !     Ah,  then,  though  I  be  dying, 

Midst  sickness,  grief  and  pain, 

0  what  a  consolation  ;'    I  shall,  on  thee  relying, 
Doth  in  my  heart  take  place.  Eternal  life  obtain." 

One  or  two  of  these  translations  of  particular  hymns  havo 
never  yet  been  surpassed,  and  are  almost,  or  quite  worthy  to 
be  used  at  this  day.     Witness  this  from  Angelus  : 

•\Liebe  die  du  mich  zum  Bilde  :" 
•'Lord  thine  image  Thou  hast  lentme,       Full  redemption  from  above. 
In  thy  never-fading  love;  Sacred  Love,  I  long  to  be 

1  was  fall'n:  but  Thou  hast  sent  me  Thine  to  all  eternity." 

And  the  following,  of  Zinzendorf  : 

"Welcome  among  thy  flock  of  grace      Who  owns  the  doctrine  of  thy  cross 
With  joyful  acclamation  ;  To  be  her  sole  foundation. 

Thou  whom  our  Shepherd  we  confess,  Accept  from  every  one  of  us 
Come,  feed  thy  congregation.  The  deepest  adoration.'' 

And  from  a  judgment-hymn  by  Ringwalt,  the  last  verse: 

uEs  ist  gewisslich  eine  Zeit ." 

"0  Jesu,  shorten  thy  delay,  0  come,  0   Lord,    our   Judge   and 

And  hasten  thy  salvation.  King! 

That  we  may  see  that  glorious  day     Come,  change  onr  mournful  notes, 
Produce  a  new  creation.  to  sing 

Thy  praise  forever.     Amen." 

This  is  one  side  of  the  shield  :  there  are  enough  examples 
of  the  other.     Thus  hymn  71 : 

"Why  should  I  continue  grieving?      Ha' n't  I  still  Christ  my  hill,"  etc. 
Likewise  hymn  68  : 

"Jehovah,  thy  wise  government,        Is  found  to  he  most  excellent. 
And  its  administration,  On  due  consideration" 


28  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

But  the  most  remarkable  models  of  English  metrical  com- 
position which  the  book  affords,  are  the  originals  in  the  Ap- 
pendix. Dr.  Reynolds,  in  his  article  five  years  ago.  gave 
three  of  these,  and  the  printer  succeeded  in  making  them 
worse  than  they  are  in  the  volume.  One  sample  will  suffice 
now.  The  following  stupendous  production  stands  No.  222, 
is  headed  "A  Church  Hymn,"  and  tailed  "K."  It  runs 
through  12  verses  : 

4.  "We  called  thy  bride  drawn  to  thy       And  at  heaven's  gate  antieipata 
.sight  t  of  holy  Zion. 

King,  by  thy  ointment's  savor,   11.  Thy  sceptre's  top  it"  touched,  will 
Lay  at  thy  feet,  and  pray,  to  meet  snip 

A  glimpse  of  kindly  fav  >  .  The  torrent  of  wild  notions, 

7.  Lord  it  is  gain  here  !o  remain,  And    hearts    of   stone  will    melt 

Thesepews  and   own 

Brooks  for  the  hail,  ni    is   for  the  The  fruit  of  joined  devoti  ms. 

bird,  12.  We  mingle  here  with   tears  our 

Rocks  for  the  frightened  a  cheer, 

9.  1  shut  my  ears  to  worldly  e.ires  Yet  candidates  of  glory, 

And  to  the  roaring  lion,  Unmixt  will  be  our  psalmody 

In  realms  not  transitory..' 

Whoever  will  studiously  examine  the  above,  will  eventu- 
ally discover,  that  it  is  not  such  nonsense  as  it  seems,  and 
that  there  is  even  some  poetry  in  if.  But  the  light  of  the 
ideas  (which  are  not  bad)  is  certainly  hid  under  a  bushel  of 
bad  English. 

A  few  remarks  on  the  general  character  of  Dr.  Kunze's 
volume  will  finish  this  the  most  difficult  section  of  our  subject. 
The  book,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  above  statement  of 
the  sources  whence  its  contents  are  drawn,  bears  not  a  little 
resemblance  to  the  Moravian  hymnals.  Those  curious  col- 
lections, from  first  to  last,  have  the  same  character  anil  tone  : 
and  it  is  an  open  question  whether"  the  present  manual  of  the 
United  Brethren  is  an  improvement  on  their  immense  and 
famous  tome  of  1745.  It  has  commonly  been  the  1'ite  of  our 
English  hymnbooks  in  this  country  to  be  rather  something 
else  than  Lutheran.  Just  as  the  New  York  collection  was 
supposed  to  be  a  cross  between  high  Arianism,  and  a  mild 
loose  form  of  cosmopolite  old-style  orthodoxy,  and  as  the  va- 
rious editions  of  the  General  Synod  have  presented  an  agree- 
able mixture,  in  varying  proportions,  of  Methodism  and  .\  en- 
School  Prcsbyterianism,  relieved  by  a  gentle  tincture  of  our 
own    faith,    so  it   was  the   luck    of  Dr.    Kunze's   product  to 


■   Lutheran  Hymnology.  29 

conic  into  the  world  with  an  evident  Moravian  flavor.  The 
metres,  the  grammar,  the  style,  the  tone  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing, all  have  a  smack  of  Unitas  Fratrum.  The  visible  and 
tangible  blood  of  Christ  does  not  flow  through  the  book  so 
palpably,  as  in  those  from  which  it  is  compiled,  but  there  is 
more  of  it  on  the  surface  than  we  usually  find  in  non-Mora- 
vian volumes.  "Besprinkle  with  thy  blood  my  heart  :"  "0 
tell  me  often  of  each  wound  :"  "The  enjoyment  of  Christ's 
flesh  and  blood  :"  lines  like  these  are  frequent.  Yet  to  the 
manner  and  extent  of  this,  exception  can  be  taken  on  the 
score  of  taste  only,  not  of  doctrine.  The  more  serious  ex- 
travagances of  the  Moravians  are  pruned  away  ;  the  carnal- 
izing of  sacred  things,  so  frequent  among  them,  is  carefully 
avoided;  an.d  the  matter  and  spirit  of  the  book  are  Lutheran. 
The  arrangement  is,  in  the  main,  good.  The  Church  itself  is 
not  brought  forward  as  it  should  be,  but  the  great  Festivals 
are  worthily  emphasized,  and  Baptism  and  Catechisation 
(which  together  may  include  the  head  of  Confirmation),  with 
the  Lord's  Supper,  are  made  prominent.  "Justifying  Faith" 
is  the  nearest  approach  which  has  yet  been  made,  so  far  as 
we  know,  in  any  English  Hymn  Book,  to  the  ideal  title, 
"Faith  and  Justification  :"  and  this  and  "Sanctification" 
between  them,  give  a  much  more  scriptural,  cliurchly,  and 
convenient  order  than  the  awkward  lumbering  length,  to 
which  our  modern  books  are  so  much  attached,  of  promiscu- 
ous "Christian  Experience."  Taken  all  in  all,  Dr.  Kunze's 
work  is  not  the  least  creditable  which  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  America  has  brought  forth.  The  Tennessee  and  Ohio 
books  may  be  more  positively  churchly,  (for  its  prevailing- 
tone  is  subjective  and  mildly  pietistic,)  but  we  doubt  if  they 
are  much  better,  in  general.  And  if  we  allow  for  the  remote 
time  and  the  peculiar  circumstances,  remembering  that  the 
book  was  gotten  up  by  one  or  two  isolated  German  clergymen 
just  beginning  to  use  English,  and  necessarily  unacquainted,. 
to  any  considerable  extent,  either  with  the  language  or  its 
hymnology,  we  shall  see  that  good  Dr.  Kunze  did  his  work 
better,  in  proportion  to  his  abilities  and  oportunities,  than 
most  who  have  followed  him.  His  book  may  be  faulty,  but 
the  authors  of  none  of  the  English  Lutheran  hymnbooks  now 
in  use,  have  a  right  to  be  complacent  over  its  defects.  When 
we  shall  have  a  Hymnal,  at  once,  as  sound  in  doctrine  and 
spirit  as  this,  which  at  the  same  time  corresponds  to,  and 
bears  evidence  of,   the  immense   advances  that  have  been,  or 


30  Lutheran  Uymnology.  ■ 

might  have  been  made,  in  taste  and    knowlenge,  since  1795 
Ave  shall  then  be  justified  in  criticising  the  first  English  Lu- 
theran Hymn  Book.     Meantime  we  may  remember,  that  all 

things   have  small  beginnings  :   and  that  the  venerated  man 
who  laid   this  corner-stone  of  an   edifice,  destined  to  be  long 
in  the  building,  straggling  in  its  shape,  and  vastly  various  in 
the  fitness,  use.  and  beauty  of  its  numerous  chambers    did  it 
m  love  and  loyalty,  though  somewhat  in  the  dark. 

i  'oll&etion,  1797.  299  Hymns. 
Size  and  appearance  similar  to  the  last  :   it  is  labelled  on 
the  back,  -Hymns  and    Liturgy."      Title  :   "A  collection  of 
Evangelical  Hymns,   made  from  different  authors  and  collec- 
tions, for  the  English  Lutheran  Church,  in  New  York  :    By 
George  Strebeck  :   and  when  they  had    sung  an  hymn    they 
went  out  into  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Mat.  26  :  30.  New  York  • 
Printed  by  John  Tiebout,  (Horner's   Head).  No.  3,38,  Pearl 
street,    1797."     The    preface,    or   advertisement,    co'vers   a 
page   and  a  quarter,    and   is   signed   September,    1797.     It 
says,  "As  this  small  collection  of  hymns  is  published  for  the 
use  of  my   own  congregation,  and  by   its  particular  request. 
it  needs  no  apology.    The  unsuitableness  of  the  metres  of  our 
English  Lutheran  Hymn  Book,    published  in   1795,    *  *  * 
made  it  peculiarly  necessary  to  provide  another  collection  for 
the    use  of  the  English  Lutheran    Church.     In   the  present 
collection,  I  have  endeavered  to  retain  as  many  of  the  hymns, 
.  published    in   the  former,  as  could    well  be  done.     AH  those 
have  this  mark  *  prefixed  to  them  ;   for  the  rest  lam  indebt- 
ed to  various  authors,  and  collections  of  reputation.     I  hope 
none  will    be   so  bigoted  to  mere  name  as  to  censure  us  for 
making  selections  from  authors  who  are  not  of  our  own    pro- 
fession in   religion;   and  who,  perhaps,  on  some  points  differ 
from  us    in   sentiment,"  etc.      The    hymns   and  index  cover 
263  pages  ;  with  them  are  bound  up  "The  Liturgy,  Gospels, 
and  Epistles,  of  the  English  Lutheran  Church  of' New  York; 
to  which  is  added,  the  Augustan   Confession  of  Faith.     New 
York  (as  before),  1797."     This  covers  130  pages. 

Here  is  "A  table  of  contents.  I.  The  Nativity  of  Christ 
from,  page  1-20.  II.  New  Year,  21-22.  .III.  Christ's 
sufferings  and  death,  29-51.  IV.  Easter  ;  or  the  resurrec- 
tion, 51-60.  V.  Ascension,  60-64.  VI.  Whitsunday,  or 
the  Holy  Spirit,  (1  keep  the  book's  lettering  as  to  capitals 
or  not,;  65-74.    VII.   Trinity  Sunday,  74-80.     VIII.  Cri 


Lutheran  Ihjmnology.  SI 

tion,  81-89.  IX.  Divine  Providence,  90-100.  X.  Redemp- 
tion, lOO-llOi  XI.  Repentance,  110-126.  XII.  Faith, 
126-137.  XIII.  Sanctification,  137-146.  XIV.  Means 
of  Grace  ;  1  The  Scriptures,  146-162  :  2  Baptism,  162-165  : 
3  The  Lord's  Supper,  165-179  :  4  Prayer,  179-199.  XV. 
Praise,  200-207.  XVI.  Death,  207-220.  XVII.  Judg- 
ment, 221-229.  XVIII.  1  Heaven,  230-234:  2  Hell, 
235-236.  XIX.  1  Morning,  236-239:  2  Evening,  239-241. 
XX.  Miscellaneous  subjects,  241--254. 

Here  is  a  falling  off  in  doctrine  and  churchliness  at  the 
very  start.  The  precious  season  of  Advent  is  passed  by, 
our  preparation  for  Christ  is  neglected,  and  his  coming  taken 
as  a  matter  of  course,  in  the  simple  acknowledgment  of  his 
nativity.  And  presently  appears  the  common  and  pernicious 
error  of  confounding  the  full  and  proper  Means  of  Grace 
with  such  things  as  are,  or  may  be  means  to  grace.  The 
Word  and  Sacraments,  which  are  God's  means  toward  men, 
are  put  on  the  same  footing  with  Prayer,  which  is  our  means 
towards  him.  Of  course  this  mixture  and  leveling  of  causes 
with  .results,  of  divine  with  human,  though  popular  enough 
even  in  the  Church,  is  totally  inconsistent  with  the  Lutheran 
doctrine.  Mr.  Strebeck  had  been  one  of  Dr.  Kunze's  assis- 
tants, had  some  hand,  it  will  be  remembered,  in  making  the 
hymnbook  which  his  own  in  part  supplanted.  But  he  seems, 
in  these  two  years  intervening,  to  have  taken  (doubtless  un- 
consciously) several  steps  towards  what  then  happily  had 
not  yet  a  local  habitation  and  a  name — American  Lutheran- 
ism.  He  afterwards,  with  his  congregation  and  church  pro- 
perty, went  over  to  the  Episcopalians. 

Of  the  hymns,  299  in  number,  48  only  are  taken  from  Dr. 
Kunze's  book  ;  and  of  these  but  ten,  with  three  others  by 
John  Wesley,  are  translated  from  the  German.  This  is  a 
great  and  sudden  change  ;  but  it  is  in  human  nature  to  pass 
violently  from  one  extreme  to  another.  The  contents  of  the 
first  book  were  two-thirds  of  German  origin  :  in  the  second, 
published  but  two  years  later,  Fatherland  was  allowed  to 
publish  but  one-twenty-third.  Of  the  English  hymns,  Watts 
has  supplied  82  ;  Charles  Wesley  45  ;  Newton  18  ;  Dodd- 
ridge 17  ;  Cowper  11;  Steele  11  ;  the  Stennets  8  ;  Beddome 
7  ;  Hart  5  ;  Fawcet,  Medley,  Davies,  and  Burnhaw  3  each  ; 
Addison,  Mason,  Toplady,  Gibbons,  Stocker,  Swain,  Turner, 
2  each  ;  and  authors  various  and  anonymous    the  remainder. 

The  book,  thus  constituted,  has  no  special  character  of  its- 


Lutheran  Hymnology, 


own.  and  presents  no  further claim's  on  our  attention  ;  unless 
in  introducing  four  doxologies,  where  Dr.  rCunze  had  none, 
in  affixing  the  authors  names  to  nearly  half  the  hymns,  and 
in  containing,  entire  and  unaltered,  John  Wesley's  noble 
translation    of  .':      Its  literary  merit 

is  passaWe,  for  that  day,  even  Some  80  of  the  hymns 

are  such  as  a  severe,  and  as  many  more  such  as  an  ordina- 
ry, taste  would  retain.  As  far  as  it  goes,  it  is  for  its  date  a 
respectable  production  ;  and  we  know  a  number  of  standard 
collections  in  use  now.  that  are  not   much  better. 

Willistoris  Collection.  1806.  437  Hymns. 

It  is  now  our  pleasant  duty  to  describe  a  hook  of  decided 
character  and  considerable  merit.  Its  page  is  a  thought  lar- 
ger than  the  last,  and  better  printed,  the  label  on  the  back  is 
the  same,  "Hymns  and  Liturgy."  Title  :  "A  Choice  Selec- 
tion of  Evangelical  Hymns,  from  various  Authors  ;  for  the 
use  of  the  English  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  New 
York.  By  Ralph  Williston.  I  will  sing  with  the  Spirit, 
and  I  will  sing  with  the  understanding  also  1  Cor.  14:  15. 
New  York:  Printed  and  sold  by  J.  C.  Totten,  No'.  155 
Chatham  Street,  1806."  The  book  is  copy-righted;  this  oc- 
cupies the  page  succeeding  the  Title.  The  next  is  filled  by 
an  official  statement  signed  '"John  C.  Kurize,  Senior  of  the 
Lutheran  Clergy  in  the  State  of  New  York,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  20, 
1806,"  beginning  :  "The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Ministry  of 
this  State  having  entered  a  resolution  some  years  ago,  That 
a  new  edition  of  the  English  Lutheran  Hymn-Book  should 
be  procured^  and  having  left  the  selection  of  the  Hymns  to 
the  members  of  their  body  residing  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
this  collection  is  now  offered,"  etc.,  and  ending:  'T  have  ex- 
amined and  read  every  one  of  the  Hymns  now  offered,  before 
their  being  struck  off,  and  can  assure  my  fellow-worshippers, 
that  none  is  found  among  them  dissonant  to  our  doctrine,  or 
incompatible  with  the  spirit  of  genuine  godliness."  From 
this  it  appears  that  the  book  before  us  is  a  properly  author- 
ized Church  collection,  whereas  Strebeck's  was  a  private  af- 
fair, for  the  use  merely  of  his  own  congregation.  On  the 
third  page  from  the  Title  appears  the  compiler's  "advertise- 
ment." It  is  not  pretended,  that  a  Hymn  will  be  found  here 
adapted  to  every  religious  subject,  yet  it  is  hoped  there  will 
be  no  important  deficiency.  No  doctrine,  it  is  believed,  will 
be  found  in  this  selection,  which  is  not  accordant  with  the 
doctrines   taught  in  our    Church.      A    new    edition,  or  a  new 


Lutheran  Hymnalogy .  33 

compilation,  became  indispensably  necessary,  there  not  be- 
ing a  single  copy  to  be  had  of  the  former  collection  ;  and  the 
obvious  deficiency  of  the  former  collection  determined  us  to 
make  a  new  compilation.'"  The  hymns  and  index  occupy 
319  pages,  to  which  are  in  some  copies  added,  as  in  Strebeck, 
in  100  pages  more,  "The  Liturgy,  Gospels  and  Epistles  of 
the  English  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  New  York." 

The  arrangement  is  more  minute  and  somewhat  more  logi- 
cal than  Strebeck's,  but  not  more  Churchly.  Contents  :  I. 
The  Being  and  Perfections  of  God,  page  1  ;  II.  The  Char- 
acter, Actions,  Sufferings  and  Glory  of  Christ:  1  Nativity, 
p.  13;  2,  Officers,  26;  3  Passion,  36;  4  Resurrection,  61 ; 
5  Ascension,  67  ;  6  Glory,  71  ;  7  Advocacy,  76.  III.  In- 
fluences of  the  Spirit  of  God  :,  1  Whitsunday,  81  ;  2  Trinity, 
95,  (this  is  a  curious  coupling.)  IV.  1  Creation,  102;  2 
Providence,  108.  V.  The  Fall  and  Temptation  of  Man, 
122.  VI.  The  Scriptures,  Doctrines  and  Imitations  of  the 
Scriptures:  1  The  Scriptures,  126;  2  Doctrinal,  133;  3  In- 
viting, 145.  VII.  The  Christian's  Character  and  Graces  : 
1  Awakening,  152;  2  Penitential,  158  ;  3  Supplication  and 
Prayer,  173;  4  Faith,  196;  5  Hope,  203;  6  Love,  207; 
7  Sanctifieation,  217  ;  8  Joy  and  Praise,  224.  VIII.  The 
Christian's  Blessings,    Sufferings,   Danger   and   Safety,  233. 

IX.  Christian   Worship:    1   Private,  245;    2  Public,   247. 

X.  Pastoral,  260.  XI.  Ordinances :  1  Baptism,  267 ;  2 
Eucharistic,  269.  ~K.II.  Times,  Seasons  and  Places  :  1  Morn- 
ing, 273  :  2  Evening,  275  ;  3  Birthday,  278  ;  4  Youth,  280  • 
5  New  Year.  280  ;  6  Seasons,  286  ;  7  Particular  Providen- 
ces, 290  ;  8  Death,  293  ;  9  Resurrection,  299  ;  10  Judgment, 
301  ;  11  Heaven,  304. 

This  arrangement,  it  will  be  seen  at  once,  though  in  no- 
respect  positively  offensive,  is,  like  its  predecessors,  and  in- 
creasingly so,  deficient,  weak,  negative  where  it  should  be 
positive.  The  whole  plan  and  temper  of  the  work,  indeed, 
are  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  cosmopolite  English,  Broad 
Church,  anything  else,  as  much  as  Lutheran.  The  author- 
ship of  the  hymns  shows  this.  The  German  matter,  so  large- 
ly used  by  Dr.  Kunze,  is  almost  entirely  thrown  aside. 
There  are  eight  translations  by  John  Wesley,  with  the  origin 
of  four  of  which  Williston  was  doubtless  unacquainted,  and 
which,  we  need  hardly  say,  are  all  vigorous  and  graceful  En- 
glish poems  :  and  at  the  end  of  the  Passion  hymns  are  put 
seven,  transferred  from  Kunze's  volume.  These  last  are  re- 
Vol.  XVI.  No.  61.         5 


34  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

mark  able  for  force  and  feeling,  but  in  rough  and  unsingable 
measures  :  "0  head  so  full  of  bruises,"  being  the  only  one 
of  them  which  an  ordinary  English  congregation  could  sing 
now.  Of  these  fifteen  hymns,  the  origin  of  four  only,  and 
they  from  John  Wesley,  is  indicate],  while  over  two  original 
compositions  of  Charles  Wesley,  the  same  title  "[From  the 
German.]"  is  placed.  For  the  rest,  Watts  gives  188  hymns, 
Charles  Wesley  11*2,  Steele  17,  Doddridge  14,  the  Stennetts 
8,  Cowper  7,  Newton  5,  Addison  4,  Hart  4.  Beddome  4, 
Faweett  3,  Browne  3,  Davies  3,  Tate,  Mason,  Dwight,  Gib- 
bons, Needham,  and  S.  Wesley,  Jr.,  each  2,  and  the  rest  a.e 
various  or  anonymous.  The  compiler  made  no  attempt  to 
give  the  authors'  names. 

Mr.  Wiliiston  was  a  man  of  fine  taste;  and  his  book  pos- 
sessed, for  that  day,  very  unusual  literary  merit.  There  is 
nothing  childish,  vulgar,  or  absurd  in  it,  as  is  so  frequently 
the  case  with  books  so  old  :  a  modern  style  and  feeling  are 
evident.  Almost  all  its  contents  are  still  found  in  the  stand- 
ard hymnals  of  respectable  religious  bodies.  A  few  of  them, 
chiefly  from  Watts,  may  be  regarded  as  not  quite  fitting  with 
the  idea  and  objects  of  a  hymn  for  public  worship,  nor  likely 
to  result  in  edification  ;  but  these  most  objectionable  parts  of 
the  collection  still  have  place  in  many  modern  manuals.  Ta- 
ken in  all,  Williston's  book  will  endure  comparison,  so  far  as 
it  goes,  with  almost  any  of  those  now  used  ;  which,  to  be 
sore,  is  no  great  praise,.  At  the  time,  it  was  doubtless  su- 
perior to  anything  else  printed  in  America,  and  was  perhaps 
hardly  surpassed  in  England,  except  by  that  wonderful  pro- 
duction, John  Wesley's  great  Hymn  Book  "for  '  the  use  of 
the  people  called  Methodists."  From  that  liberal  source 
Wiliiston  drew  largely  ;  and  he  must  also  have  possessed 
one  or  more  of  the  comparatively  rare  original  volumes  from 
which  that  was  compiled  ;  for  his  book  contains  several  Wes- 
leyan  hymns  which  were  then,  as  now,  out  of  print  generally 
and  forgotten.  Wherever  Charles  Wesley's  lyrics  are,  there 
will  be  as  much  vigor  and  grace  as  has  yet  been  put  into 
Christian  poetry.  His  brother's  verses,  comparatively  few  in 
number,  are  nearly  equal  to  Charles'  best:  and  120  Wesley- 
an  hymns,  in  a  volume  containing  but  437,  necessarily  give  it 
tone,  force,  and  vitality.  We  do  not  sanction  the  doctrine 
of  the  book  by  saying  that  its  poetic  and  devotional  charac- 
ter is  high  ;  and  120  Wesleyan  hymns,  as  loosely  chosen  as 
■was  to  be  expected  at  that  day  and  from  Mr.  Williston's  po- 
sition, necessarily  infuse  more  or  less  of  a  spirit  which  is  any- 


Lutheran  Hymnology .  35 

thing  but  Lutheran.  (When  non-Methodists,  since  that  time, 
have  taken  from  the  Wesleyan  poetry  to  an  extent  at  all  pro- 
portionate to  its  merits,  their  selections  have  not  commonly 
been  much  more  careful  or  appropriate.)  But  Williston's 
Hymn  Book  is  the  most  praiseworthy,  in  literary  and  poetic 
merit,  which  has  yet  been  issued  by  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  it  is  deeply  to  be  lamented,  that  in  the  labors  of  his  suc- 
cessors, his  own  were  so  almost  utterly  disregarded. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  fashion,  among  these  early  hym- 
nals, for  each  compiler  to  ignore,  as  near  as  might  be,  what 
had  been  done  before  him.  If  the  getters-up  of  the  official 
New  York  collection  had  been  content  to  build  on  the  basis 
of  Williston,  keeping  what  was  good  in  him,  rejecting  what 
was  objectionable,  and  adding  what  appeared  desirable,  a  vol- 
ume might  have  been  produced  which  would  have  met  the 
wants  of  the  great  bulk  of  English  Lutheran  churches  for 
many  years,  and  been  vastly  superior  to  anything  which  we 
have  now.  For  Williston  had  unconsciously  hit  upon  the 
first  requisite  of  a  good  English  hymn  book  ;  the  presence  of 
Watts  and  Wesley  in  nearly  equal  proportions.  This  is  a  se- 
cret which  was  partially  understood  sixty  years  ago,  but  has 
been  unhappily  forgotten  since.  The  collections  that  appear- 
ed through  the  closing  years  of  the  last  century  and  at  the 
beginning  of  this,  have  generally  a  much  larger  infusion  of 
W7esley  than  happens  in  later  days,  and  the  consequence  is 
a  spice,  and  a  definiteness,  vim  and  life,  that  are  unknown  to 
our  languid  and  rambling  piles  of  verse.  Wesley  and  Watts 
are,  and  will  doubtless  always  remain,  par  excellence  the 
hymnists  of  the  English  tongue.  Their  provinces  are  differ- 
ent, and  they  seldom  cover  the  same  ground  ;  never  with  the 
same  material  or  in  the  same  manner.  As  poets  there  is  no 
comparison  between  them,  as  purveyors  to  the  wants  of  pub- 
lic worship  they  are  nearly  equal.  Watts  is  the  more  prac- 
tical and  popular,  Wesley  the  more  cultivated,  graceful,  and 
profound,  also  the  more  fiery,  inspired  and  inspiring.  The}'' 
are  needed  to  complete  each  other;  two  sides  of  the  shield, 
old  and  new  school  ;  and  truth  and  value  in  each.  The  Pres- 
byterian gives  the  hymns  of  praise  and  worship,  of  outward 
duty  and  service,  the  objective  side  of  Christianity  ;  the 
Methodist  deals  with  repentance,  faith,  consecration,  and  in- 
ward sanctity  ;  the  whole  range  of  hidden  life  and  experience, 
more  or  less  personal  and  subjective.  Can  we  dispense  with, 
or  undervalue  either  ?  Each  of  these  two  gifted  and  holy 
men  has  done  his  work    better    than  any   other ;   can  we,  in 


3°  Lutheran  Bymnology. 

justice  to  them  and  to  ourselves,  throw  either  in  the  shade  ? 
Moreover,  it  is  commonly  forgotten  that  Charles  Wesley 
with  all  his  Methodism,  was  a  strenuous  and  zealous  church- 
man ;  his  views  of  the  Church,  the  Sacraments,  the  Festi- 
vals, were  nearer  ours  than  those  of  any  other  EnHish  hymn- 
ist  of  eminence  ;  and  his  verses,  more  or  less  often,  express 
these  views  worthily  and  nobly.  All  the  Calvinistic  hymn 
books  in  this  country  have  Watts  in  enormous  hulk  'and 
shave  down  Wesley  to  shameful  littleness.  Our  own  compi- 
lations all  in  the  same  way,  though  not  quite  to  the  same  ex- 
tent. Williston's  was  the  solitary  and  noble  exception  ■  that 
discerning  man  established  a  precedent,  which  the  Church  to 
her  own  infinite  loss,  has  lacked  the  knowledge,  or  wit  or 
grace,  to  keep  and  follow.  When  a  hymn  book  that  shall 
worthily  represent  both  our  Lutheran  truth  and  the  riches  of 
English  hymology  shall  appear,  it  will  be  much  nearer  in 
respect  to  Williston's  than  to  any  other  of  the  many  compi- 
lations which,  for  want  of  better,  the  Lutheran  Church  'in 
America  has  used,  and  is  usinff. 

The  New  York  Synod's  Rymn  Book.  1814.  520  hymns. 

But  Williston's  successors  did  not  see  matters  in  this  light 
Six  years  after  his  hook  was  published,  the  New  York  Synod 
had  a  local  habitation  and  a  name,  and  the  tide  of  Rationalism 
had  swept  into  it  with  considerable  power.  Our  business  hen 
is  not  to  be  philosophical,  pathetic,  censorious,  or  apologetie 
about  the  facts,  but  simply  to  state  them  ;  "only  this  and 
nothing  more."  If  anybody  is  hurt,  it  is  not  our" fault;  we 
did  not  make  the  facts,  and  we  are  not  responsible  for  them. 
If  we,  Lutheran  clergymen  of  the  present  day,  had  lived  at 
that  time  and  under  those  influences,  probably  we  should 
have  been  as  the  fathers  in  New  York  were,  or  possibly  we 
might  not.  Bat  this  is  neither  here  nor  there.  So  it  was 
and  the  chronicler,  who  in  his  straight  course  comes  against 
the  facts,  has  nothing  to  do  but  state  them  dispassionately  in 
their  various  bearings  and  results,  so  far  as  these  concern'  his 
work  and  his  end.  We  may  suppose  that  the  representative 
men  of  that  day,  who  made  the  New  York  Hymn  Book  with- 
out being  specially  tied  down  to  Lutheran'  doctrine,  or  re- 
markably attached  to  Lutheran  forms,  0r  profound ly  impreg- 
nated with  Lutheran  spirit,  had  a  sort  of  instinctive  and  in- 
herited attachment  to  the  Lutheran  Church  as  such  ■  and 
that  they  were  equally  displeased  with  Mr.  Willislon's  evan- 
gelical creed  and  temper,  and  with  his  apostasy  (as  they  mav 


Lutheran  Hymnology '.  37 

have  considered  it)  to  the  Church  of  Christ  under  another 
name.  At  any  rate,  they  practicslly  ignored  him  and  his 
hook;  and  refer  to  him  and  his  predecessors  only  in  one  slight 
and  sweeping  clause  of  their  Preface.  aThis  (the  compila- 
tion of  an  English  Hymn  Book)  has  indeed  already  been  at- 
tempted by  several  individuals.  But  as  the  selections,  pub- 
lished by  them,  evidently  admit  of  great  improvement,  an- 
other was  ordered  to  be  prepared  by  a  Committee  appointed 
for  that  purpose  by  the  Lutheran  Synod  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  convened  at  Rhinebeck  in  September,  A.  D.,  1812. '' 
This  Preface  is  signed  by  Dr.  Quitman,  President,  and  Dr. 
Wackerhagen,  Secretary,  of  the  Synod  :  it  is  not  stated  who 
composed  the  Committee,  and  as  the  Minutes  of  Synod  were 
not  printed,  prior  to  1820,  it  is  now  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  ascertain  who  were  the  compilers  of  the  book.  It  has 
been  generally  understood  that  Dr.  Mayer  ''was  to  a  very 
great  extent,  if  not  altogether  its  author  ;  and  the  fact  of 
his  being  the  only  English  scholar  belonging  to  the  Synod  at 
that  time,  is  a  strong  corroboration."  So  writes  Dr.  Pohl- 
man,  now  and,  for  many  years,  President  of  the  New  York 
Synod.  We  are  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  Dr.  Quit- 
man, who  was  the  intellectual  giant  of  that  time  and  region, 
whose  influence  over  New  York  Lutheranism  during  the  first 
quarter  of  this  century  was  commanding,  exercised  more  or 
less  modifying  and  expurgating  power,  either  during  the  com- 
pilation, or  before  it  went  to  press.  Dr.  Quitman's  humani- 
tarianism  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  stronger  than 
Dr.  Mayer  is  ever  likely  to  have  been  flavored  with,  even  in 
his  earliest  days. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  book  is  before  us.  As  every  Luth- 
eran minister,  who  knows  or  cares  anything  about  our  hymn- 
ology, is  likely  to  possess  and  be  familiar  with  this  collection, 
the  minute  description  which  we  gave  of  its  rare  and  gener- 
ally unknown  predecessors  would  be  needless  here.  We  have 
therefore  only  to  state  the  main  facts  about  the  book,  and 
enter  into  such  criticism  of  it  as  may  seem  desirable. 

But  two  varieties  in  form  were  ever  published  :  the  18  mo. 
printed  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  from  1814  to  the 
present  day,  and  commonly  used  :  and  the  2-1  mo.  put  forth 
in  Germantown,  by  M.  Billmeyer.  This  edition  was  exten- 
sively circulated  at  first,  but  went  out  of  print  many  years 
ago.  The  paging  in  the  two  is  different  :  the  large  style 
having  350  pages  of  Hymns  and  1,3  of  Index,  with  153  of 
Liturgy  and  Prayers  :   and  the   small   one  293,   13    and    116 


38  Lutheran  Bymnology. 

respectively.  The  collection  speedily  came  into  oeneral  use 
among  the  English  churches,  of  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as 
New  York,  and  kept  its  hold  for  many  years.  With  the 
Supplement  (to  be  described  hereafter,)  it  is  still  used  in 
Albany,  New  York  city,  Easton,  Reading,  in  half  a  dozen 
country  churches  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  per- 
haps in  a  few  more  in  Pennsylvania. 

It  is  the  common  luck  of 'things  and  people  to  be  either 
under-rated  or  over-praised:  the  New  York  Collection  has 
doubtless  met  both  fates.  Rymn  Books,  lik'e  human  beings 
are  apt  to  be  at  once  good  and  evil  ;  and  this  production  had' 
great  merits  and  great  faults.  Let  us  begin  with  the  bright 
side.  B 

Its  arrangement  is  most   lucid    and   admirable.     A  clear, 
strong,  sound  head  presided  over  this  part,  as  can  readily  be 
seen.      The  subjects   follow   and    flow    into  each  other,  it.  an 
order,    logical    and    natural;   with    nothing    but.   the    general 
Table,  it  is  far  easier  to  find   what    one  wants   here,   than  in 
the  Genera]  Synod's  book,  with  its  extensive  and  minute  In- 
dex of  special  subjects  added.      First  come,  as  by  right  they 
must,  Praise  and    Thanksgiving;  then    the   Divine  Nature, 
Works  and  Providence;   then  the   Church    Year  in  part    in- 
dicated nearly  as  in  Williston,  by  Christ's   Mission   and  'Na- 
tivity, Office   and  Mediation,  Example,  Sufferings  and  Death 
Resurrection   and   Glory.     Then    the   great  omission  of  the 
preceding  books  is  remedied  by  "The  Kingdom  and    Church 
of  Christ,"     Then  comes  that  left-handed  expression  of  the 
Pentecostal  season,  as  in  Wiiliston,  "The  Influence  of  God's 
Holy   Spirit."    Trinity,    of    course,    is   omitted.      Then    the 
Scriptures.       Then    Prayer,    acknowledgement   of    sin,    re- 
pentance and   conversion.     Then  the  privileges,    attributes 
and   fruits  of  the  new   life.     Here   Christian   Experience  is 
thrown  into  the  background,  and  the  Christian  Character  and 
Life  brought   prominently   forward.      Part  of  this    would  be 
very  right ;   but   they    carried  it  too  far.      -Duties  of  Piety 
Personal  Duties,  Social  Duties,"  are  dwelt  upon  perhaps  too 
much,  and  the  inevitable   human    heart,  in  its  various  stages 
of  discipline   under   divine   grace,    acknowledged   too    little. 
The  General  Synod  runs  wildly  to  the  other  extreme,   ignor- 
ing   duty,    minutely    emphasing    all    the    emotional    condi- 
tions,   methodistically    deifying    Experience,    and     seeming 
scarcely  to  believe  in  Life  and  Character.      In  media  Veritas. 
Whoever  would  pilot  the  Church  to  the    haven  of  a  true  and 
right  Hymnology,  must  steer  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis. 


Lutheran  Hymnology .  ''I 

Then  the  book  finishes  up  with  Public  Worship,  the  Sacra- 
ments, Particular  Occasions,  the  Troubles  of  Life,  and  Last 
Things. 

The  only  faults  of  this  arrangement  are  those  indicated, 
and  that  '"Faith"  is  most  loosely  and  incorrectly  represented. 
Here  as  in  all  other  books,  Lutheran  and  other,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  (though  not  so  gross!}''  here,  :is  in  many,)  the 
saving,  justifying  act  of  belief  is  confounded  with  the  general 
Trust  to  be  exercised  through  life;  and  that  which  ought  to 
occupy  several  exterior  subdivisions  of  the  volume  is  crowd- 
ed into  one  small  chapter.  By  remedying  these  defects,  ar- 
rano-inn;  the  Order  of  Salvation  and  the  Christian  Life  ac- 
cording  to  Lutheran  doctrine  and  spirit,  and  making  the 
Church-Year  stand  out  more  clearly  and  positively,  the  ar- 
rangement would  become  nearly  perfect;  and  the  future 
Hymnals  of  the  Church,  if  they  are  to  te  worthy  the  name, 
must  build  after  the  general  structure  of  the  New  York  col- 
lection. 

Another  point  of  great  importance  in  a  Hymn  Book  is  it3 
adaptedness  to  the  needs  and  uses  of  public  worship.  In  this 
respect  the  New  Y'ork  book,  as  far  it  goes  and  within  its 
limits,  is  good.  It  is  the  last,  if  not  the  only  English  Luth- 
eran collection  which  does  all  it  undertook  to  do,  and  is  all  it 
aimed  to  be.  What  its  compilers  thought  fit  that  it  should 
contain,  is  here  contained  ;  what  they  believed  in  expressing, 
is  here  expressed.  There  is  a  definiteness,  a  clearness  about 
it  :  the  book  is  of  its  kind  a  success.  It  may  be  faulty  and 
deficient  in  our  eyes  or  mind,  but  it  suited  the  wants  of 
that  day.  What  its  authors  had  considered  right  and  aimed 
at,  it  became  or  accomplished  :  and  they  and  those  who 
thought  with  them  had  cause  to  be  contented.  Thus  there  is 
a  certain  fitness  to  practical  uses  in  the  book.  It  doubtless 
entirely  satisfied  the  ministers  and  people  of  those  early 
days,  and  those  who  come  to  use  it  now,  generally  form,  in 
course  of  time,  a  higher  regard  for  it  than  they  had  at  first. 
It  is,  always  within  its  scope,  an  admirable  book  to  fit  one's 
services  and  sermons  from  :  there  is  a  minuteness  and  precise- 
ness  about  it,  which  helps  one  wonderfully  to  find  what  one 
wants.  Of  Passion  and  Atonement  hymns  there  is  a  lack 
indeed :  you  are  kept  within  a  certain  range  :  but  within 
that  you  are  amply  provided.  In  the  General  Synod's  book 
all  is  loose,  and  generalizing;  if  you  want  a  hymn  which 
illustrates  a  special  phase  of  Trust,  Love,  Consecration, 
Sanctification,  or  one  on  such  an  obscure  subject  as  Humility 


40 


Lutheran  Hymnology. 


or  Benevolence,  you  have  to  plod  through  nearly  the  whole 
thousand,  and  then  the  chances  are,  three  to  one,  that  you 
will  not  find  it;  but  in  the  New  York,  if  what  you  want 
comes  within  the  scope  and  plan  of  the  book— -you  turn  to 
the  place,  look  over  a  dozen  or  two  hymns  perhaps,  and  there 
it  is.  For  the  sober  worship  of  God's  house  on  the  Lord's 
day,  this  production,  with  all  its  deficiencies-— and  we  have 
no  disposition  to  deny  these— is  perhaps  the  best  we  have. 

As  to   distinctive    literary    merit,  it  has  been   generally  al- 
lowed much  praise.      For  that  day— a  lull  half  ce°ntury  ago— 
it  deserves  much  :   though    its    excellencies    here   are   largely 
negative.      Like  Williston's,   it  contains  little  or  nothing  that 
is  contemptible;   almost  all  its  contents  are  decorous,  proper, 
orderly.      But  after  Williston's,  we  sadly  miss   the   force  and 
lire,  the  brilliant  grace,  the  life  and  earnestness,  of  the  large 
Wesleyan   component.     The   book    before   us  is  entirely   old 
school,  its  authors   could    not   tolerate   Methodism,   they  did 
not  believe   in   emotion  and    enthusiasm   to  any  considerable 
extent,  religion  must  be  quiet,  well-behaved,  gentle,  dignified 
and    solemn,   and   their   hymns    must  be  toned   down  to  that 
standard.      Now  the  finest  hymns  in  the  language  happen  to 
be  of  just  that  sort  which  they  did  not  care  about,  or  did  not 
approve  of,  and    when    a   Collection,  on   any  score  of  princi- 
ple, taste  or  feeling,    throws    out   such    material  as  -Rock  of 
Ages,"  "Jesus,    Lover  of  my   soul,"    and   "There   is  a  foun- 
tain," it  deprives  itself  of  the  most   elegant   and  forcible  sa- 
cred   poems   which    have    been    written.      The   heart    of  the 
Church  has  taken   hold  of  just    these   subjects:   the  positive 
Divinity  of  Jesus;   the  unqualified  Atonement  of  his  blood; 
the  possible  union,    consequent   hereupon,    between  man  and 
Cod ;   and   the   ideal   duties   and    privileges  of  the    new  life. 
The  best  sacred  poetry,  whether  it  be  objective  or  subjective, 
dealing   either   with    the   outward    facts,  or    the    inward  ex- 
perience, of  religion,  is  necessarily  ardent,  intense,  often  pas- 
sionate,   sometimes    rapturous.       The   authors    of    the   New 
York  collection  did  not  believe  in  this   kind,  and   that  belief 
or  unbelief  inevitably  prevented   their   book  from  possessing 
the  highest    literary,  as    the    highest  devotional,    excellence! 
Yet  within  the  limits  which  their  principles  prescribed,  they 
did  their  work  remarkably  well.      Of  its  kind,  the  book  is  as 
good  as  could   well    be   put   together  at  that  day ;  far  better, 
in  its  scope,  than  most  that  have  a  larger  scope.     The  sacred 
muse  does  not  grovel    here,  as    we  are   so  often  pained  to  see 
her  do  in   more   modern    manuals;  she   may    not   reach   the 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  41 

same  heights  of  inspiration  with  the  more  distinctively  evan- 
gelical sisters,    but  she  does  not  sink  to  the  degraded  depths 
in    which  they  sometimes  repose  ;  she  may  prune  Dr.  Watts 
of  a  noble  verse  like 
"Was  it  for  crimes  that  I  had  done,  He  groaned  upon  the  tree  ?" 

and  forbid  him  on  her  premises  to 

"Survey  the  wondrous  cross,  On  which  the  Prince  of  Glory  died ;" 

but  neither  does  she  allow  him  to  meditate 

*'My  heart  how  dreadful  hard  it  is  !    Heavy  and  cold  within  my  breast, 

How  heavy  here  it  lies  !  Just  like  a  rock  of  ice." 

The  book  belongs  entirely  to  the  old  school  of  hymnology 
and  of  piety.  Watts  gwes  it  the  best  part  of  two  hundred 
learns  ;  Doddridge,  some  seventy  or  eighty  ;  Anne  Steele 
near  fifty  ;  the  Stennets,  Gibbons,  Noedham,  Browne,  Thom- 
as Scott.  Beddome,  and  writers  of  that  sort  are  extensively 
represented  ;  while  Charles  Wesley  is  reduced  to  a  beggarly 
compliment  ;  and  his  few  followers  gain  scanty  and  suspicious 
admission.  Yet  there  are  one  or  two  happy  exceptions  ;  in 
several  of  John  Wesley's  German  hymns,  whose  exquisite 
and  noble  beauty  forced  for  them  a  passage.  Besides  "Give 
to  the  winds  thy  fears,"  which,  being  about  Providence  mere- 
ly, might  come  in  easily  enough,  we  find  three  verses  of  a 
very  sweet,  decidedly  inward  and  somewhat  pietistic  produc- 
tion of  Terstugen,  "Thou  hidden  love  of  God  ;"  five  of  that 
noble  hymn  of  uncertain  origin,  "0  Thou  to  whose  all-search- 
ing sight ;"  and  four  of  Rothe's  sublime  song,  '"Now  I  have 
found  the  ground  wherein."  The  General  Synod's  book, 
which  seems  to  have  been  principled  against  printing  any- 
thing from  the  German  in  a  form  fit  to  sing,  of  course  omit- 
ed  these.  It  is  not  the  most  creditable  among  the  minor 
features  of  that  compilation,  that  having  this  magnificent 
version  to  its  hand,  it  substituted  the  spiritless  imitation  of 
Dr.  Mills. 

Though  we  have  endeavored  to  be  systematic,  and  to  reserve 
the  doctrine  of  the  book  to  a  place  by  itself,  it  has  inevita- 
bly been  touched  upon,  in  the  above  remarks.  Dr.  Rey- 
nolds' criticisms  on  this  subject,  in  the  Review  for  October, 
1859,  are  tolerably  correct.  He  says,  in  substance,  (page 
190)  that  the  essential  doctrines  of  orthodox  Christianity  do 
find  expression  here,  and  that  the  New  York  collection  con- 
tains hymns  and  verses  which  are  inconsistent  with  Arianism, 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  61.         6 


42  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

Socinianism,  or  any  other  heresy.  Had  this  never  been  as- 
serted before,  we  could  easily  prove  it.  Not  only  is  Christ 
worthily  praised,  and  at  least  impliedly  worshipped,  in  such 
hymns  as  94,  99,  114,  143,  but  his  Divinity  is  positively 
stated,  here  and  there.  Witness  hymn  107,  v.  3  :  '"He  rises 
ami  appears  a  God  :"  loT,  v.  3  :  "The  rising  God  forsakes 
the  tomb  :"   172,  v.  1  :   "Your  God  and  King  adore." 

The  Atonement  is  indicated  in  hymns  119,  120,  144,  and 
in  lines  like  these  : 

"Eternal  life  to  all  mankind  Thou  hast  in  Jesus  given  :" 

"He  died  that  we  might  live  :"  "Thou  hast  redeemed  our  souls  with 

blood." 

The  creed  and  life  of  Christianity  are  here  ;  but  less  is 
made  of  them  than  might  and  ought  to  be  ;  and  these  most 
important  points,  though  not  ignored  or  denied,  are,  as  Dr. 
Reynolds  says,  thrown  into  the  background  and  the  shade  ; 
the  compilers  seem  not  to  have  emphasized  these,  though 
they  believed  them  ;  a  horror  of  systematic  divinity  and  of 
clear  strong  statement  appears  to  have  prevailed  ;  anything 
like  technical  terms  and  formulas  were  dreaded  ;  a  broad 
church  manual  was  seemingly  designed,  in  which  there  should 
be  nothing  to  offend  professed  believers  of  whatsoever  type, 
and  through  which  young  people  and  outsiders  might  be 
mildly  broken  in  to  Christianity,  by  considerable  exercise  in 
natural  religion.  Thus  the  matters  which  all  people  who  be- 
lieve anything,  are  agreed  upon,  truths  which  Jews  knew, 
and  respectable  heathen  had  some  idea  of,  are  here  made 
prominent.  General  worship,  the  Divine  Attributes,  Provi- 
dence, &c,  are  represented  very  fully.  God  in  nature,  in 
history,  in  our  daily  life,  is  set  forth  ;  and  the  duties  of  gra- 
titude, trust,  and  obedience,  "our  reasonable  service,"  insis- 
ts 1  on.  Now  all  this  is  very  well,  and  not  to  be  despised. 
We  are  sometimes  apt  to  forget  or  undervalue  the  light  of 
Nature  in  the  brighter  blaze  of  Revelation  ;  whereas  God  is 
equally  the  Author  of  both,  and  intended  both  to  be  thank- 
fully used  by  us.  We  cannot  sing  or  preach  exclusively 
about  Jesus,  the  Atonement,  and  a  living  Faith,  vastly  im- 
portant and  edifying  as  these  subjects  are.  Some  of  us,  pos- 
sibly, run  to  this  extreme  ;  the  New  York  book  fell  into  the 
other.  It  is  not  easy  to  pardon  the  absence  of  "Rock  of 
Ages,"  "There  is  a  fountain,"  and  "When  I  survey  the  won- 
drous cross  ;"  nor  to  be  content  that  the  person  and  work  of 
Christ,    in    all  their    phases,    should   be    represented  by  but 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  43 

eighty-one  hymns,   half  of  them  very  languid,    dreary,  and 
lifeless  ;   nor  to  sing  at  the  Holy  Communion,  such  as  : 
"Around   the    patriot's    bust    ye        Him    ye   exalt   in  swelling   song." 
throng;  (Hymn  389.) 

And  yet  this  sample  of  sacred   poesy  is  in  the  General 
Synod's  book  too  ! 

As  a  natural  result  of  the  plan  stated  above,  large  promi- 
nence was  given  to  the  works,  principles,  and  sentiments 
which  were  supposed  to  characterize  the  Christian.  We 
might  expect  a  humanistic  tone  here  ;  and  a  few  of  the  pie- 
ces do  savor  more  of  the  pride  of  nature  than  of  the  humili- 
ty of  Grace.  Witness  this  astonishing  production  : 
"The  man  whose  firm    and   equal  His  calm,  undaunted,  manly  breast, 

mind  Of  virtue,  honor,  truth  possest, 

To  solid  glory  is  inclined,  Will  stem  the  torrent  of  the  age, 

Determined  will  his  path  pursue,  And  fearless  tread  this  mortal 
And  keep  the  God-like  prize  in  view.         stage." 

The  idea  of  singing  that  in  church,  as  a  hymn  of  praise  to 
Almighty  God,  is  somewhat  stupendous.  We  are  happy  to 
be  able,  for  once,  to  mention  a  fact  which  reflects  credit  on 
the  General  Synod's  Collection.  Strange  as  it  may  appear, 
this  surprising  effusion  is  not  in  it.  A  number  more  of  these 
social  and  personal  duty  hymns  do  well  enough  to  read  at 
home,  but  are  scarcely  fit  for  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary. 
"If  solid  happiness  we  prize,"  (beginning  in  the  original, 
"Dear  Chloe,  while  the  busy  crowd;")  is  a  famous  and  admir- 
able moral  poem,  but  not  remarkably  Christian  ;  and  good 
Dr.  Cotton,  who  wrote  it,  a  pious  man  and  a  hymnist,  had  no 
idea  of  offering  it  to  be  sung  in  church.  "Daughters  of 
pity,  tune  the  lay,"  is  a  singular  beginning  for  a  hymn  ;  and 
"absurd  and  vain  attempt,  to  bind  with  iron  chains  the  free- 
born  mind,"  might  afford  consolation  to  the  persecuted  Bri- 
tish dissenters  of  old,  but  is  scarcely  appropriate  in  Amer- 
ica, where  nobody  proposes  to  bind  us. 

It  requires  no  vast  stretch  of  magnanimity  to  make  allow- 
ances for  the  faults  of  the  New  York  Collection.  Every  age 
has  its  peculiar  tone  and  temper,  and  exhibits  its  own  phases 
of  character  and  influence,  in  matters  political,  social,  litera- 
ry, religious,  and  what  not.  Half  a  century  ago,  English 
Hymnology  was  a  comparatively  recent,  loose,  and  unfounded 
thing  ;  we  have  seen  more  than  one  decidedly  orthodox  and 
distinctively  evangelical  collection  of  that  day,  which  yet 
contains  matter  as  humanitarian   in  statement  and  spirit  as 


"  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

one  can  easily  find.  And  if  the  book  before  us  be  not  quite 
so  distinctively  evangelical  or  decidedly  orthodox  as  we 
could  wish,  let  us  think  of  its  Christian  authors  with  some- 
thing  of  that  charity  which  we  are  taught  to  exercise  toward 
the  heathen  ;  remembering  that  if  we  had  been  in  their 
place,  under  their  surroundings,  we  might  have  done  worse 
Montis  more  than  doubtful  whether  their  successors  in  pro- 
portion to  their  lights,  opportunities  and  conviction's,  have 
done  at  all  so  well. 

Supplement  to  New  York   Collection,  1884.  180  Hymns. 
Of  the  Committee  (appointed  September,  1833,)  who  pre- 
pared   this,   Dr.  Mayer    was   the  Chairman  ;  and  he.  either 
alone,    or    chiefly  did  the  work.     About  half  the  hymns  are 
such  as  had   either  appeared,  or  become  known   since  1814 
being  from  Montgomery,  Heber,  Bowring,    Kelly,  the  Spirit 
ot  the  Psalms  (British),  the  American  Episcopal  Collection 
and  similar,  then  recent,  sources.  Dr.  Reynolds  says,  "there 
is,  perhaps,  more  unction  and   a  higher  tone  of  literary  com- 
position   in   these    additional  hymns,"  "but  without   making 
any    material  change  in  the  spirit"    of  the    book.     This  is 
hardly  up  to  the   truth.     The   doctrine   of  the   volume  may 
not  indeed  be  changed  thereby,  but  its  spirit  is  very   consid- 
erably modified  and  improved.     The  new  hymns,  above  men- 
tioned, are,  very   many  of  them,  high  in  devotional    charac- 
ter.    It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  Montgomerv,  while 
he  belongs  to,  and  leads  the  last  or  composite  class  of  English 
hymnology,  was  largely  formed   by,  and  deeply  in  svmpathy 
with,  the   new  Wesleyan  school  ;  or  that  positive  orthodoxy 
and  warm  feeling  are  essential  characteristics  of  that  school, 
and  of  its  true    disciples.     So    much    for    the    character    of 
a    large    proportion    of     the     more    modern     among     the 
additional    hymns,    and   of    the  older    hymns    thus  added, 
many    are    new-school   in  source  and  character.     A  few   of 
Chades  Wesley's    best    are    taken  ;  and   Cowper,   Newton, 
Cennick,  Williams,    Seagrave,    contribute    noble   Methodist 
lyrics    (so   they    may    be   called,   since  these  men  lived  and 
wrote  in    strong  sympathy  with  the  great  Wesleyan  revival), 
which  had    been  overlooked    or  rejected  in  1814.     A  glance 
at  such  hymns   as  579,  581,  583,  584,  593,  601,  614,  616 
623,  629,  630,  631,  634,  635,  639,  688,  692,  will  show  what 
an  advance  has  been  gained  in  spirit,  tone,  temper,  what  en- 
larged  scope   of  view   and    belief,    what   greater   depth  and 
earnestness  of  Christian  feeling,  on  the  old  collection.    There 


Lutheran  Hgmnology.  45 

are,  comparatively  and  positively,  few  hymns  here  of  the 
sort  so  numerous  among  the  520  of  1814  :  productions  in 
dull,  decorous  Long  Metre,  laboriously  undoctrinal,  and  most 
moderately  devotional ;  verses  such  as  Butcher.  Jervis,  Scott 
and  Needham,  whole  or  half  Arians,  and  exceedingly  quiet 
independents,  used  to  write.  One  or  two  pieces,  as  541,  543, 
547,  552,  celebrate  the  Redeemer  somewhat  unworthily, 
considering  the  numbers  of  really  fine  Advent,  Passion,  and 
Jesus  hymns,  which  the  language  does  and  did  then  afford  ; 
and  as  many,  like  536,  537,  585,  607,  moralize  over  provi- 
dence, virtue,  and  such  half-natural  matters,  in  a  tone  that 
reminds  one  of  the  old  book,  but  these  are  the  exceptions. 
There  is  one  effusion,  however,  to  which  we  think  we  are  jus- 
tified in  indulging  a  peculiar  aversion:  No.  594,  headed 
"Efficacy  of  Repentance."  The  first  two  verses  are  founded 
on  Isaiah  1  :  19,  and  promise  the  pardon  of  sin  :  and  then 
follows  this  surprising  statement  : 

il By  penitence  and  prayer,  Bathed  in  the  hallowed  dews 

The  wondrous  change  is  wrought ;     Of  deep  compunction 's  tears, 

They  soothe  the  pangs  of  dark  de-  The  sold  her  health  and  strength  re- 
spair,  news, 

And  heal  the  wounded  thought,         And  meet  for  Heaven  appears." 

Does  it,  indeed  ?  Not  much,  in  our  opinion,  or  in  that  of 
any  New  Testament  writer  with  whom  we  are  acquainted. 
The  man  who  wrote  the  above  meant  the  heresy  which  it  ex- 
presses ;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  neither  Dr. 
Mayer,  nor  any  other,  who  is  likely  to  have  been  engaged 
with  him  on  this  Supplement,  believed  that  sort  of  doctrine. 
The  thing  must  have  been  admitted  by  mere  carelessness,  the 
compiler — as  should  not,  but  often  does  happen — not  looking 
below  the  surface,  to  discern  the  real  character  and  latent 
faults  of  the  matter  with  which  he  had  to  deal. 

Two  hymns  from  the  German  are  found  in  this  supplement : 
No.  582,  being  a  fragment  from  John  Wesley's  rendering, 
"Jesus,  thy  boundless  love  to  me,"  of  Gerhardt's  fatuous 
love-hymn  :  and  569,  altered  from  part  of  Toplady's  varia- 
tion of  J.  C.  Jacobi's  version  of  "0  du  allerduste  Freude." 
Both  fine  lyrics. 

The  literary  merit  of  this  supplement  is  much  above  that 
of  the  earlier  part.  A  collection  which,  put  together  thirty 
years  ago,  has  three-fourths  of  its  contents  fully  up  to  the 
standard  or  average  of  respectable  hymn  books  of  this  day, 
and  half  of  them  worthy  of  retention  by  a  severe  and  educa- 


46  Diiilary  Piety  in  the  Ministry. 

ted  taste,  deserves  considerable  praise.  Taken  all  in  all,  it 
is  a  successful,  creditable,  and  useful  work;  and  this,  almost 
the  only  printed  memorial  which  Dr.  Mayer  left,  is  not  un- 
worthy of  his  honored  name,  of  his  pure  and  lofty  character, 
nor  of  his  long,  laborious,  faithful,  and  believing  life. 
[To  he  continued.) 


ARTICLE   IV. 

EXEMPLARY  PIETY  IN  THE  MINISTRY.* 
By  Rev.  Milton  Valentine,  A.  M.,  Heading,  Pa. 

The  Address  by  Paul  to  Timothy,  (1  Tim.  4:  12,)  indi- 
cates that  he  had  been  deeply  impressed  with  the  relations  of 
the  minister's  own  life  to  the  proper  accomplishment  of  his 
official  work.  He  was  convinced  of  the  prime  importance  of 
exemplary  holiness,  in  this  sacred  position.  Possibly  his 
mind  reverted  to  the  sad  blight  on  religion  in  the  case  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  who,  sitting  in  Moses'  seat  in  the  Jew- 
ish Church,  "said,  and  did  not."  Perhaps  the  brief  experi- 
ence of  the  Christian  Church  had  already  developed  this  ne- 
cessity. Probably  it  was  plain  on  general  principles,  apart 
from  experience, — flashing  out  before  the  mind  as  a  self-evi- 
dent truth.  Certain,  at  any  rate,  is  it,  that  he  was  led  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  to  give  this-  direct  and  standing  charge  on 
the  subject.  Turning  aside  from  the  large  field  of  doctrinal 
discussion  in  reference  to  the  ministerial  office,  we  wish  to 
occupy  our  thoughts  at  this  time  with  a  more  practical  medi- 
tation on  the  Duty  of  Exemplary  Piety  in  the  Ministry. 

It  might  seem  superfluous  to  speak  of  this  duty.  All  who 
are  in  the  ministry,  and  all  accepted  candidates  for  it,  are 
presumed  fully  to  understand  it.  Doubtless  they  do.  Not 
for  "instruction,"  may  it  be  needed,  but  for  "admonition." 
It  is  profitable,  often  to  renew  our  impression  of  its  impor- 
tance, and  by  fixing  it  afresh  in  our  minds,  quicken  our  en- 
deavors after  a  purer  blamelessness  and  perfection  of  charac- 

';;' Delivered  by  appointment  of  the  Bast  Pennsylvania  Synod  at  its 
last  meeting,  and  published  in  the  Review  by  the  unauiinuus  request  of 
the  Synod. 


Lutheran  Eymnology.  193 


THE 

E  V  A  X  G  E  LICAL 

QUARTERLY  REVIEW. 

NO.  LXIL 


APRIL.     1365 


ARTICLE  IV. 

LUTHERAN  HYMNOLO&Y. 

By  Rev.  Frederic  M.  Bird,  A.  M.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Ix  the  January  number  of  the    Quarterly,  we  gave  such 
account  as  seemed  fit  of  the  various  English  hymnals  prepar- 
ed and  published  in  the  State  or  by  the  Synod  of  Xew  York. 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  62.        25 


194  Lutheran  Eymnology. 

Wo  are  now  to  present  such  compilations  as  other  ecclesiasti- 
cal bodies,  or  individuals  of  our  communion,  have  at  any  time 
put  forth.  And  we  shall  do  this  as  nearly  in  chronological 
order  as  the  natural  groupings  and  relationships  of  the  books 
will  permit. 

Maryland  Selection,  1822,  314  Hymns. 

Probably  not  one  of  our  readers  will  know,  at  first  sight, 
what  this  heading  means:  and  we  doubt  if  ten  of  them  have 
either  seen  or  heard  of  the  book  until  now.  Its  title,  indeed, 
to  a  place  in  this  article  is  questionable,  for  the  word  "Lu- 
theran" is  found  neither  within  its  covers  nor  on  its  back. 
But  of  that  presently. 

The  title  page  reads :  "The  Pocket  Selection  of  Hymns,  for 
the  use  of  Evangelical  Churches,  and  Religious  Assemblies, 
in  the  United  States.     Being  a  Collection  from  the  Best  Au- 
thors.     First   Edition.      Frederick    County,    Md.     Printed 
and  Published  by  Matthias  Bartgis,   at  Pleasant  Dale  Paper 
Mill,    1822."     Overleaf  is   the  Copyright,   regularly   taken 
out)  and  signed  by  "Philip  Moore,  Clerk    of  the   District  of 
Maryland."     Then  comes  the  preface,  which  we  give  entire, 
because  it  combines  the  virtue  of  brevity  with  a  rare  measure 
of  bad   grammar   and   impudent   mendacity.     (We  give  the 
commas  verbatim  :  and   regret   to  state  that  a  similar  usage 
appears    to   be   gaining   ground    among   the  printers  of  this 
day.)     ''The   following   Hymns,   from  various    hymn-books, 
which  are  approved  of  by  Protestants  generally.     Great  care 
has   been   taken,   to  select  such,  as  are  practical.     And,  al- 
though this  little  volume  has  been  compiled,  for   the   use  of 
families,  private  religious  meetings,  and  Sunday  Schools  prin- 
cipally,  yet  several  denominations  using  them  during  public 
worship,  they  may  be  of  general  utility  to  Christians. — It  is 
unnecessary   to   add   anything   more,   for   a    perusal   of   the 
hymns,  will  convince  the  attentive  reader,  that  they  coincide 
perfectly  with  the  spirit   of  the   Gospel."     A  more  palpable 
collocation  of  lies  we  have  never  seen  in  print.     This  is  the 
"First   Edition  ;"  how   then    could   "several  denominations" 
be   already   "using   them,"   if  by   them  is  meant  "this  little 
volume"  ? — The  cool  assumption  in  the  last  sentence   sounds 
greatly  like  the  Unitarians  of  a  former  day,  who  were  always 
insisting  that  their  system  was  simple,  pure,  catholic  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  any  believer,  of  whatever  shade,  must  per- 
force be  satisfied  with  what  suited  them.     As  for  the  hymns 
"coinciding  perfectly    with   the   spirit  of  the  Gospel,"  their 


Lutheran  Hyrnnology.  195 

^prevailing  tone  is  low  Arian,  and  their  general  level  very 
fiat,  bare,  and  lifeless.  And  so  far  from  being  "selected 
from  various  hymn-books,"  there  is  not  a  verse  or  a  line  in 
this  virtuous  volume  that  is  not  taken,  bodily  and  literally, 
from  the  New  York  book  of  1814.  The  whole  thing  is  a 
stupendous  piece  of  literary  piracy.  Nothing  is  changed  ex- 
cept the  order  of  the  hymns,  and  that  only  enough  to  thinly 
cloak  the  cheat.  The  subjects  (of  which  there  is  no  separate 
index )  runs  thus  :  I.  Attributes  of  God,  hymn  1 ;  II 
Yvorks  and  Providence  of  God,  18  ;  III.  The  Scripture,  32  ; 
IV.  Praise  and  Thanksgiving,  41  ;  V.  Mission  and  Nativity 
of  Christ,  51 ;  VI.  Office  and  Mediation  of  Christ,  56 ; 
VII.  Example  of  Christ,  66;  VIII.  Suffering  and  Death 
of  Christ,  70 ;  IX.  Resurrection  of  Christ,  81 ;  X.  Holy 
Spirit,  87;  XL  Prayer,  98;  XII.  Danger  and  Misery  of 
Sin,  105;  XIII.  Conversion,  115;  XIV.  The  Christian 
Character,  124;  XV.  Joy  and  Felicity  of  True  Christians, 
134;  XVi.  Faith  and  Duties  of  Piety,  144;  XVII.  Per- 
sonal and  Social  Duties,  164;  XVIII.  Public  Worship,  189; 
XIX.  Baptism,  207;  XX.  Lord's  Supper,  210  ;  XXL 
Morning,  220  ;  XXII.  Evening,  226  ;  XXIII.  New  Year, 
229;  XXIV.  National  Blessings  and  Afflictions,  232 ; 
XXV.  For  a  Congregation,  243  ;  XXVI.  Sickness  and  Re- 
covery, 248;  XXVII.  Troubles  of  Life,  255;  XXVIII. 
For  the  lToung  and  Old,  265;  XXIX.  Death,  271;  XXX. 
Resurrection,  295 ;  XXXI.  Judgment  and  End  of  the 
World,  298;  XXXII.  Heaven,  304.  This  arrangement,  it 
will  be  seen,  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  the  New  York 
Collection.:  in  several  instances  Heads  are  transposed:  in  one 
or  two  they  are  lumped  together ;  the  Church  is  left  out  in 
the  cold,  and  the  word  Repentance  is  omitted :  these,  with  a 
few  verbal  alterations,  make  the  whole  difference.  The  same 
hymns  in  each  book  stand  under  the  same  subject,  with  no 
other  change  than  may  be  produced  by  typographical  errors. 
Thus  No.  1  in  this  Maryland  affair  is  No.  32  in  the  New 
York  book  ;  2  corresponds  to  33,  &c. 

It  is  possible,  and  easy,  to  make  a  very  dull  and  tame  book 
from  the  New  York  one.  The  unknown  and  unhonored 
patcher-up  of  this  thing  before  us  seems  to  have  aimed  at 
this  laudable  result ;  he  certainly  attained  it.  The  Trochaic 
and  other  Peculiar  Measures,  which  give  variety  and  life  to  a 
hymn-book,  are  carefully  excluded  from  this :  it  contains 
nothing  but  L.  M.,  C.  M.,  S.  M.  and  one  sample  of  L.  M.  C. 
lines.     The  few  hymns  like  "One  there  is  above  all  others," 


196  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

"Join  all  the  glorious  names,"  "Now  begin  the  heavenly 
theme,"  "Christ  the  Lord  is  risen  to-day,"  which  form  the 
chief  redeeming  feature  of  the  collection  of  1814,  find  no 
place  here.  Thus  in  doctrine,  devotion,  and  poetry,  it  sinks 
a  grade  or  two  below  its  parent.  A  thing  at  once  stolen  and 
spoiled  is  detestable  and  unpardonable,  before  gods  and  men. 

One  curious  feature  remains  to  be  noticed.  Six  hymns,  as 
arranged  here,  are  double;  that  is,  two  lyricr-,  successive  or 
not,  in  the  New  York  book  will  be  joined  under  one  number 
in  this,  without  regard  to  their  sense  or  spirit,  beginning  or 
end.  Thus  No.  262  begins  with  No.  466  in  New  York  : 
"Weary  of  these  low  scenes  of  night,"  which  rhymes  by 
alternate  lines ;  and  at  verse  5  takes  up  No.  468  of  New 
York,  a  hymn  of  very  different  strain,  rhyming  by  couplets, 
"My  God,  ray  hope  !  if  Thou  art  mine."  Thus  the  314 
hymns  of  this  piratical  volume  correspond  to  320  of  the  520 
in  the  New  York  collection. 

We  know  nothing  about  the  origin  or  history  of  this  book  ; 
who  got  it  up,  where  and  how  it  was  used,  whether  its  shame- 
less fraud  was  ever  exposed,  whether  a  second  edition  was 
ever  printed,  or  anything  more  than  appears  from  the  book 
itself.  We  have  seen  and  heard  of  but  two  copies,  which 
are  identical  ;  one  belonging  to  the  writer,  the  other  in  the 
collection  of  that  veteran  hymnologist,  David  Creamer,  Esq., 
of  Baltimore.  The  book  occupies  256  pages,  is  half  an  inch 
shorter  than  the  recent  editions  of  the  New  York  collection, 
and  about  half  as  thick  :  it  is  printed  on  coarse  dark  paper, 
not  saying  much  for  the  merits  of  "Pleasant  Dale  Paper 
Mills,"  but  suggestive  in  our  day,  of  Dixie:  and  is  neatly 
bound  in  boards  and  half  sheep,  labelled  simply  "Hymns." 
And  so  ends  our  account,  perhaps  too  lengthy,  of  a  produc- 
tion only  valuable  as  presenting  probably  the  most  remarka- 
ble mixture  extant  of  doctrinal  negativeness,  devotional 
deadness,  and  moral  dishonesty.  May  we  never  have  such 
another. 

Tennessee  Hymn  Book.     First  Edition,  1815-16. 

Our  efforts  to  beg,  buy,  or  borrow  a  copy  of  this  scarce 
volume  have  been  in  vain;  and  we  are  not  disposed  to  illu- 
minate the  Church  with  a  minute  account  of  what  we  have 
never  seen.  These  facts  appear;  that  it  was  prepared  by 
Rev.  Paul  Henkel,  and  that  many,  probably  the  large  major- 
ity, of  its  contents  were  from  his  own  pen.  We  fancy 
that   the   following   criticism,    passed  by  an  eminent  English 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  197 

authority,  Dr.  Neale  of  Sackville  College,  on  one  of  the  ear- 
liest Christian  poems,  the  Instructiones  of  Commodianus, 
would  apply  here  :  "Nothing,  in  the  way  of  poetry,  can  be 
more  utterly  worthless;  but  there  are  a  few  allusions  which 
render  it  valuable  to  the  Christian  antiquary,  and  a  vein  of 
pious  simplicity  pervades  the  whole." 

Tennessee    Hymn    Booh.       Second    Edition,    1838,    679 

Hymns. 

We   have   never   seen  this  Second  Edition  ;  but  the  third, 
1850,   is   before   us,    with  a  Preface   dated   1838.     The  two 
were  identical,  except  five  hymns    added,  and  ''a  few  ortho- 
graphical  changes,"   in   the   later,    and   on  the  basis  of  this 
general  identity  between  the  two,  we  shall  proceed  to  notice 
the  book,  as  if  it  were  bodily,  as  it  is  substantially  before  us- 
The   title   was,  we   suppose,  mainly  the  same  with  that  of 
the  subsequent  editions,  which  we  give  below.     The  Preface, 
which  is  signed   "Ambrose   Henkel,  Neiumarket,  Shenan- 
doah Co.  Va.,  August  15th,  1838,"  gives   such   information 
as  we  have  concerning  the  relation  of  this  to  the  old  edition. 
"This  work  is  not  an  entire  new  and  independent  publication; 
but  *     *  the   principal   matter   of  its  contents  has  been  in 
reputable   demand   for   a   considerable  length  of  time  in  the 
Church  ;  contained  in  the  hymn  book  published  in  the  years 
of  1815  and  16,  compiled  by  my  father,  the  late    Rev.  Paul 
Henkel,  entitled  "Church  Hymn  Book,"  etc.;  which  work 
contains  a  considerable   portion    of  hymns   composed  by  the 
deceased  himself;   and  marked  thus  J  throughout  the  work. 
As  its  contents  are  purely  evangelical,  and  as  the  hymns  ap- 
portioned to  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  were  much  admired 
for  their  simplicity  and  strict  accordance  with  their  respective 
texts,  connected  with  many  other  desirable  qualities,  it  gained 
an   extensive    circulation.     But,    whatever    encomiums    that 
work    deserves,  it  is  now   unobtainable:   that   edition    being 
totally  consumed  by  its  many   and   extensive   sales.      It  was 
therefore   resolved   by  the   Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee 
Synod,  to  devolve  it  upon  me  to  make   the   present  publica- 
tion.   This,  though  it  varies  in  some  respects  from  that  work, 
is   founded   upon    the   same   basis,  and  comprises  essentially 
the  same  matter.     Many  additional  hymns  are  selected  from 
other  authors  :  so  that  the  attentive  reader  will  now  find  two 
or  more  hymns  for  every   text  throughout   the   ecclesiastical 
year.    He  will  also  perceive,  that  this  edition  contains  hymns 
.on   occasions   which   the  former  editions   did  not  comprise. 


198  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

Hymns  not  so  well  approved,  were  set  aside,  and  others  con- 
sidered preferable,  were  substituted.  Those  that  were 
deficient  in  point  of  language  or  in  grammatical  construction, 
are  corrected.  Watts'  psalms  are  not  retained  entire  and  in 
the  same  order:"  etc. 

The  Table  of  Contents  occupies  above  three  pages.  Pub- 
lic Worship  has  hymns  1  to  16  ;  For  the  Gospels  and  Epis- 
tles (separately  indicated  as  far  as  Trinity  Sunday,)  17  to 
308,  nearly  half  the  volume;  The  Word  of  God,  309;  Be- 
ing and  Perfection  of  God,  317;  Works  of  God,  329; 
Providence  of  God,  337  ;  Praise  to  God,  344;  The  Trinity, 
356;  Christ,  359;  Holy  Spirit,  387;  The  Law  of  God, 
391;  Fall  and  Depravity  of  Man,  398;  The  Gospel  or  Sal- 
vation through  Jesus  Christ,  403  :  Faith,  413  ;  Repentance, 
422  ;  Justification,  431 ;  Sanctification,  436  ;  Prayer,  441 ; 
Christian  Experience,  448;  Baptism,  471;  Catechising, 
484 ;  Confirmation,  496 ;  Confession  of  Sin,  499 ;  The 
Lord's  Supper,  503;  Ordination,  517;  Dedicating  of  a 
Church,  523;  Synod,  528;  Table  Hymns,  536;  Morning 
Hymns,  543  ;  Evening  Hymns,  555  ;  Sickness,  568  ;  Death, 
588 ;  Resurrection,  308 ;  General  Judgment,  612 ;  Heaven 
and  Future  Happiness,  618  ;  Hell  and  Future  Punishment, 
625;  Angels,  628;  Civil  Government,  631;  Journeying 
Hymns,  645 ;  Afflictions,  650 ;  The  Seasons,  658 ;  The 
Stages  of  Life,  Q66  ;  Doxologies,  671  to  679.  Under  some 
of  these  heads  are  minute  and  curious  subdivisions ;  thus 
under  ''Civil  Goverment,"  "For  those  who  are  imprisoned, 
For  those  who  are  to  be  executed,  An  officer  or  soldier  leav- 
ing home,  For  an  officer  in  camp,  For  a  soldier  in  camp, 
Thanksgiving  for  a  safe  return  from  camp."  The  head  "Table 
Hymns,"  is  noticeable.  The  "vein  of  pious  simplicity"  is 
apparent  in  these. 

For  the  authorship,  Paul  Henkel  appears  to  contribute 
303,  seven  are  signed  D.  H.,  three  S.  A.  H.,  and  one  C.  11. 
One  or  two  anonymous  pieces  may  also  be  original.  The  rest 
are  drawn  from  common  sources:  the  compiler  seeming  to 
have  especially  possessed  and  used  a  copy  of  Watts,  of  Net- 
tleton's  Village  Hymns,  and  of  llippon's  Collection.  Not 
very  Churchly  or  Lutheran  sources,  but  as  good  no  doubt  as 
were  within  his  reach.  Dr.  Watts  gives  161  hymns,  C.  Wes- 
ley 25,  Doddridge  25,  Steele  15,  Newton  11,  Beddorae  8, 
Cowper  7,  S.  Stennet  7,  Tate  and  Brady  5,  Simon  Brown  4, 
Hart,  Fawcett,  Collyer,  Hyde,  each  3,  Addison,  Cennick, 
Medley,   Toplady,    Kelly,  Gibbons,  Needham,  each  2,  while 


Lutheran  Eymnology.  1W 

the  rest  are  various  or  anonymous.     (This  is  our  own  compu- 
tation ;  the  authors  of  the  originals  only  are  indicated.) 

As  to  the  character  and  merits  of  the  book,  perhaps  the 
less  we  say  the  better.  It  never  was  used,  we  imagine,  out- 
side the  narrow  limits  of  the  body  for  which  it  was  prepared; 
nor  did  it  ever  exert  the  least  perceptible  influence  on  any" 
other  book  or  body :  hence  there  is  no  occasion  for  such 
close  and  full  criticism  as  it  is  our  duty  to  employ  with  hym- 
nals which  have  been,  are,  or  might  be  recognized  and  used 
in  any  sense  by  the  Church  at  large.  The  original  author 
of  the  Tennessee  book  was  eminent  for  his  ardent,  active, 
and  self-denying  love  to  the  Church  of  his  fathers.  With 
every  disposition  to  appreciate  his  motives  and  look  kindly 
on  his  work,  it  is  not  possible  to  regard  the  latter  as  in  any 
sense  a  success.  It  might  meet  the  wants  of  a  small,  isolat- 
ed, and  somewhat  narrow  communion,  with  little  culture  and 
no  aesthetic  requirement,  but  it  could  not  possibly  do  more, 
James  Montgomery  and  Josiah  Conder  have  published  hymn 
books,  with  a  large  proportion  (though  by  no  means  so  large 
as  Mr.  Henkel's)  of  their  own  matter  ;  but  even  that  hardly 
succeeded  ;  and  Mr.  Henkel  was  not  Conder  or  Montgomery. 
His  productions  might  possibly  edify  a  converted  backwoods- 
man or  a  slave  of  the  Uncle  Tom  type, — though  we  think 
this  would  be  more  readily  done  by  the  Campmeeting  lyrics 
to  which  Hardshell  Baptists  and  sometimes  Methodists  great- 
ly do  incline, — but  they  never  could  come  into  anything  like 
recognized  use,  among  civilized  people,  in  this  nineteenth 
century.  Nor  are  the  selections  of  the  Tennessee  book  at 
all  the  best  which  the  language  affords.  The  fact  is,  true 
churchliness  is  a  thing  graceful,  cultivated,  liberal,  large,  en- 
lightened, attractive ;  and,  not  as  too  many  suppose,  a 
narrow,  old-timey  thing  of  fossils  and  forms.  The  misery 
and  mischief  has  been,  that  those  who  had  the  truth  have 
so  seldom  been  able  to  represent  it  worthily.  The  few  En- 
glish hymnals  which  have  proceeded  from  distinctively 
churchly  portions  of  our  communion  in  America  are  but 
poorly  adapted  to  serve  the  cause  which  created  them,  or  to 
illustrate  and  extend  the  faith  in  which  they  were  put  forth. 
If  the  Lutheran  Church  is  ever  to  be  more  nearly  united 
than  now,  in  sound  belief  and  just  practice,  one  essential 
means  to  that  great  end  must  be  a  Hymnal  vastly  better,  in 
matter,  style  and  spirit,  than  anything  we  have  had  yet. 

The  principle  of  arranging   hymns  for  the  successive  Sun- 
days of  the  whole   Christian  Year,  on  which  so  large  a  part 


200  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

of  the  book  before  us  is  constructed,  Ints  been  tried  several 
times,  usually  within  the  Church  of  England,  and  never 
with  success.  Such  a  division,  if  standard  hymns  are  used, 
must  be  too  arbitrary  to  be  reasonable  or  convenient ;  and 
hymns  made  to  order  are  vastly  worse  than  none  at  all.  The 
whole  plan  savors  too  much  of  foregoing  the  liberty  of  the 
spirit,  and  submitting  to  the  bondage  of  the  letter.  Ilenk- 
el's  verses  on  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  are  mostly  mere  hor- 
tatory or  didactic  paraphrases,  with  almost  nothing  lyrical, 
still  less  hymnic,  about  them,  and  usually  on  a  dead  level* 
One  sample  is  enough.     For  Septuagesima,  Matt.  20 :  1 — 6. 

First  verse: 

In  parables  the  Lord  doth  show         How  to  perforin  their  duty  well, 
What  gospel  ministers  must  do —     We  find  here  in  this  parable. 

Tenth  and  last  verse: 

They  teach,  admonish,  and  reprove,  They  act  with  fervency  and  zeal, 
And  all  they  do  is  out  of  love:  And  God  rewards  their  labors  well. 

The  practice  of  singing  that  sort  of  stuff  Sunday  after 
Sunday,  under  pretence  of  praising  God,  we  should  consider 
decidedly  insane,  and  somewhat  impious.  However,  that  is 
the  Tennessee  Synod's  affair,  not  ours.  But  some  of  his 
pieces  are  better  than  this.  Especially  No.  35,  which  is  from 
a  fine  Advent  Hymn  of  Gerhardt : 

"Immanuel ;  we  sing  thy  praise,       We  worship  Thee  with  one  accord, 
Thou  Prince  of  life  !  Thou  Spring  Thou  virgin's  Sou  I    Thou  Lord  of 
of  grace !  lords ! 

It  is  a  pity  that  nothing  marks  such  hymns  as  Mr.  Henkel 
may  have  translated  from  the  German.  There  may  be  a 
number,  (though  hardly  a  large  number:)  but  we  have  recog- 
nized only  one  or  two,  and  to  identify  others  would  require 
more  time  and  trouble  than  the  book  deserves. 

Tennessee  Hymn  Book.     Third  Edition.     1850. 

Contains  four  additional  hymns,  numbered  41  A,  151  A, 
354  A,  627  A,  &  520  A.  The  first  four  have  the  initials  J. 
S.,'and  are  translations  from  the  German  ;  one  of  them  a  ren- 
dering of  Luther's  Christmas  carol,  another  of  "Jesus  meine 
Zuversicht."  They  are  considerably  better  than  Mr.  Henk- 
el's  originals,  and  about  as  good  as  the  translated  hymns  in 
the  General  Synod's  Collection.  The  other  has  Mr.  Ilenk- 
el's    mark.     We  promised  above  to  give  the  Title    Page ; 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  201 

'"Church  Hymn  Book  :  consisting  of  Hymns  and  Psalms, 
original  and  selected  ;  adapted  to  Public  Worship,  and  many 
other  occasions.  By  the  Rev.  Paul  Henkel.  Published  by 
order  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Tennessee  Synod.  Third 
Edition  Enlarged  and  Improved.  Newmarket:  Solomon 
D.  Henkel  &  Brothers — Joseph  Fink  &  Sons,  Mountain  Val- 
ley, near  Harrisonburg,  Va.,  Printers  &  Binders.  1850." 
24mo.  pp.  XIV,  546. 

Tennessee  Hymn  Boole.     Fourth  Edition.     1857. 

Differs  from  the  last  only  in  having  46  new  hymns  scat- 
tered through  the  book,  and  marked  A.  B.  0.,  &c,  leaving 
the  numbers  of  the  old  hymns  untouched.  The  hymns  here 
added  are  mostly  well  known  and  respectable,  and  are  an  im- 
provement to  the  book.  402  A,  is  by  Rev.  M.  Loy,  and  is 
taken  from  the  Ohio  book.  Of  the  remaining  45,  nine  are 
from  Watts,  four  each  from  Steele  and  Newton,  and  the  rest 
from  single  or  unknown  authors.  This  edition  has  576  pages, 
and,  like  its  predecessors,  is  about  equal  in  size  to  the  24mo 
issue  of  the  General  Synod. 

General  Synod's  Book.     Old  Edition,  1828,  766  Bymns. 

We  shall  notice  this  work  under  its  own  head  no  further 
than  as  it  differs  from  the  present  Edition  ;  proposing  to  ex- 
tend and  unite  our  remarks  upon  that  as  a  whole.  The  Title 
and  Preface  are  the  same,  except  that  the  latter  in  the  old 
book,  contains  this  paragraph,  afterward  omitted  :  "As  the 
New  York  Hymn  Book  is  in  the  possession  of  many  of  our 
churches,  it  was  thought  proper  to  add  to  all  the  hymns  taken 
from  it  the  number  which  they  bear  in  that  collection  :  and 
as  the  number  of  such  hymns  in  all  the  principal  divisions  of 
that  book  is  very  considerable,  it  will  be  found  that  both 
books  can  be  used  together  without  inconvenience."  And 
after  the  signatures  and  date,  comes  a  certificate  from  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  the  General  Synod,  D.  Kurtz, 
D.  D.,  and  D.  F.  Schaeffer,  "that  this  Hymn  Book  is  pub- 
lished under  the  sanction  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Ev. 
Lutheran  Church  in  the  U.  S.,  and  in  conformity  to  the 
resolution  of  said  body,  passed  October  the  27th,  1827." 
The  table  of  Contents  is  substantially  the  same,  except  that 
there  are  many  subdivisions  here,  occupying  four  full  pages. 
Thus  "XV.  Christian  Experience"  contains  "1.  The  Con- 
vert entertaining  a  hope  of  pardon  ;  and  the  happiness  of 
Vol.  XVI.  No.  62.        26 


202  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

the  Christian.  2.  Communion  with  Christ  and  love  to  Ilim 
3.  Doubts  and  fears.  4.  Spiritual  Declension.  5.  Backslider 
returning.  6.  Sanctification  and  Christian  graces.  7.  The 
Christian  life  figuratively  described  as  Taking  up  the  Cross, 
A  Pilgrimage,  A  Voyage,  Scene  of  troubles,  A  Warfare,  A 
Desert,  S-.  Christian  assurance  and  confidence  in  God.  9. 
Christian  in  the  prospect  of  death."  Foolish  as  much  of 
this  is,  it  is  probably  better  than  to  have  six  or  eight  score 
of  lyrics  lumped  together, — as  is  done  in  the  present  General 
Synod's  book, — under  one  sweeping  title  which  may  mean 
anything,  everything,  or  nothing,  and  without  the  slightest 
attempt  to  classify  or  divide. 

We  notice  44  hymns  in  this  book,  and  there  may  be  sev- 
eral more,  which  were  omitted  when  the  book  was  revised. 
Most  of  them,  we  can  cheerfully  say,  were  admirably  adapted 
to  be  thrown  away,  and  exceedingly  useless  for  any  other 
purpose.  Among  them  (No.  726)  is  a  pleasing  product  of 
Dr.  Watts'  genius,  devoted  apparently  to  the  celebration  of 
"abominable  fiends,"  and  beginning 

"My  thoughts  on  awful  subject  roll,    Damnation  and  the  dead  (!)" 

And  another  elegant  effusion  (411),  by  the  same  respected 
but  not  infallible  writer  : 

'My  heart,  how  dreadful  hard  it  is  !    Heavy  and  cold  within  my  breast, 
How  heavy  here  it  lies  I  Just  like  a  rock  of  ice  I" 

No.  220,  by  Henry  Kirke  White,  has  often  drawn  amazed 
and  bewildered  attention.  Pretty  enough  as  a  poem,  it  is  a 
sample  of  the  sublime  absurdity  of  putting  a  thing  into  a 
hymn  book  simply  because  its  author  was  a  good  man,  and 
wrote  some  other  things,  which  are  hymns. 

"What  is  this  passing  scene?  And  all  things  fade  away: 

A  peevish  April  day:  Man  (soon  discussed) 

A  little  sun,  a  little  rain,  Yields  up  his  trust, 

And  then   night   sweeps  along  the  And  all  his  hopes  and  fears  lie  with 
plain,  him  in  the  dust !'; 

And  so  on.  We  do  not  see  why  the  compilers  did  not  also 
insert  "Lilly  Dale"  and  "Auld  Robin  Gray,"  which  are 
quite  as  pathetic,  nearly  as  sacred,  and  about  as  hymnic  in 
character. 

But  we  have  more  serious  fault  to  find  with  No.  184  and 
356.  It  was  bad  enough  for  Charles  Wesley  to  write  these; 
it  is  infinitely  worse  for  members  of  a  Church  which  holds  the 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  203 

truth,  and  ha9  no  occasion  or  temptation  to  resort  to  such 
forms  of  error,  to  drag  them  into  use.  In  matter,  spirit, 
style,  doctrine,  tone,  tendency,  they  are  the  most  distinctive- 
ly and  objectionably  methodistic  poems  which  the  Methodist 
poet  ever  penned.  The  first  purports  to  be  a  hymn  of  invi- 
tation, and  offers  certain  inducements,  Christ's  "proffered 
benefits,"  "the  plenitude  of  gospel  grace,"  which  are  sup- 
posed to  be  as  follows : 

-2.  "A  pardon  written  with  his  blood,  4  The   guiltless  shame,   the   sweet 
The  favor  and  the  peace  of  God ;  distress, 

The  seeing  eye,  the  feeling  sense,       The  unutterable  tenderness: 
The  trembling  joys  of  penitence:       The  genuine,  meek  humility; 

The  wonder,  "Why  such  love  to 
me  ?" 

3.  The    godly    fear,     the     pleasing  5  The  o'erwhelming  power  of  sav. 

smart,  ing  grace 

The  meltings  of  a  broken  heart:  The  sight  that  veils  the  seraph's 

The  tears   that  tell  your  sins  for-  face, 

given.;  The  speechless  awe  that  dares  not 

The  sighs  that  waft  your  souls  to  move, 

heaven;  And  all  the  silent  heaven  of  love  !" 

These  rhapsodies  and  ecstasies,  these  meltings  and  tremblings, 
these  unutterable  tendernesses  and  sweet  distresses,  may  be 
very  delightful ;  but  as  for  there  being  anything  specially  sa- 
cred or  divine  about  them,  that  idea  is  exploded  ;  or,  at  least, 
■ought  to  be.     The  truth  is  with  the  churchly  writer : 

"Faith's  meanest    deed  more  favor  Than  brightest  transports,  choicest 
bears,  prayers, 

Where  heart  and  wills  are  weighed!       That  bloom  their  hour  and  fade. 

Nor  is  this  sort  of  thing  objectionable  only  on  theoretic 
grounds,  as  a  matter  of  abstract  truth  or  error.  When  we 
are  taught,  as  in  the  seeond  verse  quoted,  that  tears  and 
sighs  are  means  of  grace,  that  our  private  emotional  gym- 
nastics may  take  the  place  of,  or  cooperate  with,  the  eternal 
merits  and  untold  agonies  of  our  blessed  Lord, — then  the 
way  is  open  before  us  to  the  worst  forms  of  fanaticism,  and 
to  any  degree  of  Pharisaic  self-delusion.  We  may  not  get 
there  indeed ;  we  may  not  go  so  far ;  but  the  fault  is  not 
with  the  road,  nor  with  those  who  lead  us  on  it. — The  other 
hymn  is  worse  yet,  if  possible,  being  a  cool,  explicit,  straight- 
forward statement  of  that  pernicious  heresy,  the  doctrine,  as 


204  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

it  has  fitly  enough  been  called,  of  "Justification  by  Sensa- 
tion."    It  tells  its  own  story : 

"How  can  a  sinner  know  Wc  who  in  Christ  believe 

His  sins  on  earth  forgiven?  That  he  for  us  hath  died, 

How  can  my  gracious  Saviour  show  We  all  his  unknown  peace  receive,. 
My  name  inscribed  in  heaven?  And  feel  his  blood  applied! 

What  we  have  felt  and  seen  Exults  our  rising  soul, 

With  confidence  we  tell ;  Delivered  of  her  load, 

And  publish  to  the  sons  of  men  And  swells  unutterably  full 

The  signs  infallible.  Of  glory  and  of  God." 

We  opine  that  a  frail  human  heart — especially  if  it  be  so 
"unutterably  full" — is  more  likely  to  "swell"  with  pride  and 
vain  self-conceit,  than  with  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  which 
among  other  things  is  gentleness,  meekness,  temperance  ;  and 
that  a  man  who  erects  his  hope  on  the  "infallible"  basis  of  fluc- 
tuating moods  and  sensations,  is  likely  to  find  it  a  house  built 
upon  the  sand.  Charles  Wesley,  and  some  of  his  converts, 
were  men  of  such  earnest  faith  and  exalted  holiness,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  hold,  in  theory,  a  vital  and  pestilent 
error,  without  having  the  spiritual  life  poisoned  or  under- 
mined thereby;  but  to  teach  the  masses  that  their  feelings 
are  infallible  is  a  most  dangerous  experiment,  and  liable  to 
ruin  as  many  souls  as  the  truth,  which  may  be  mixed  up 
with  such  false  teaching,  will  save.  Our  Methodist  brethren 
have  a  right  to  believe  and  sing  what  they  like ;  but  we  do 
object  to  anybody's  palming  off  this  sort  of  heresy  upon  us, 
in  an  official  book  of  the  Churh,  as  Lutheran  doctrine.  We 
ought  perhaps  to  say,  that  the  first  of  these  two  hymns  has 
found  its  way  into  one  Episcopal  collection,  (very  low  Church 
of  course,)  and  into  another  which  is  nominally  Arian.  But 
the  fact  that  others  have  committed  an  offence  does  not  justi- 
fy us  in  committing  it  too. 

We  should  be  guilty  of  a  sad  sin  of  omission  if  we  did  not 
notice  what  is  in  some  respects  the  most  astounding  produc- 
tion we  know  in  this — or  any  other — book  :  No.  463.  Wo 
never  saw  it  elsewhere,  and  know  not  who  wrote  it ;  proba- 
bly some  otherwise  mute,  and  altogether  inglorious,  Milton. 
By  way  of  guide  to  the  blind,  and  help  towards  the  other- 
wise unfathomable  meaning,  it  has  the  heading,  "Conflict 
between  sin  and  holiness:" 


Lutheran  Eymnology.  205 

''When  heaven  does  grant  at  certain  Then  do  I  dream  my  sinful  brood 

times,  Is  drown'd  in  the  wide  main 

Amidst  a  pow'rful  gale.  Of  crystal  tears  a  crimson  bloody 

Sweet  liberty  to  moan  my  crimes,  And  ne'er  will  live  again/' 

And  wand'rings  to  bewail — 

The  usual  effect  of  this  lyric  upon  our  faculties  is  speechless 
amazement  and  admiration ;  but  we  will  endeavor  to  throw 
off  the  spell,  and  analyze  the  teachings  of  these  "powerful" 
verses.  In  the  first  place  we  find  that  Repentance  is  a 
pleasing  and  luxurious  exercise  ;  "sweet  liberty."  Secondly, 
that  this  attractive  indulgence  is  not  always  to  be  had  :  you 
cannot  repent  when  you  will,  but  only  "at  certain  times." 
Thirdly,  the  surroundings  must  be  favorable  ;  it  must  be 
"amidst  a  powerful  gale."  If  the  weather  be  calm,  you  can 
neither  do  the  works,  nor  enjoy  the  delightful  sensations, 
which  belong  to  true  penitence.  Such  is  the  doxy  of  the 
first  verse.  Now  when  these  necessary  elements  are  all  pro- 
vided,— -when  Heaven  has  granted  the  certain  times,  the 
powerful  gale,  and  the  sweet  liberty, — what  next?  What 
comes  of  such  grand  preparation  ?  Then  the  narrator, — we 
know  not  whether  to  call  him  subject,  patient,  or  medium, — - 
dreams.  And  what  does  he  dream?  That  his  sins  are  a 
litter,  cruelly  doomed,  "ah,  alas  !"  to  a  watery  grave,  and 
actually  enduring  that  untimely  and  unmerited  extinction. 
(It  is  not  quite  a  watery  grave  either  ;  his  metaphor  is  mixed 
a  little ;  but  none  the  worse  for  that.)  And  having  thus 
effectually  "drowned"  them  in  the  first  three-quarters  of  his 
second  verse,  the  poet  condescends  to  the  requirements  of 
metre,  and  obligingly  informs  us,  in  the  remaining  line,  that 
they  "ne'er  will  live  again."  Having  exhausted  himself  by 
this  surprising  figure  of  speech,  he  after  this  says  what  he 
has  to  say — such  as  it  is — in  plain  language. 

"I  get  my  foes  beneath  my  feet,  But  ah,  alas!  th'  ensuing  hour 
I  bruise  the  serpent's  head  ;  My  passions  rise  and  swell : 

I  hope  the  victory  is  complete,  They  rage  and  reinforce  their  pow'r 
A;id  all  my  lusts  are  dead.  With  new  recruits  from  hell." 

Of  course  they  do.  What  else  can  be  expected,  when  a  man 
puts  his  sensations  on  the  throne  of  God,  and  looks  to  frames 
and  feelings  for  Justification  and  Sanctification,  instead  of 
the  blessed  Trinity?  And  this  is  the  sort  of  religion  which 
some  would  substitute  for  the  faith  of  the  Confessions  and  of 
.the  Fathers  !     We  fancy  that  the  whole   system,  in  its  prac- 


20G  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

tical  workings,  is  apt  to  end,  as  this  sample  of  a  spiritual 
eong  so  fitly  does,  "with  new  recruits  from  hell."  From 
8ucli  heresy,  whether  sung,  prayed,  preached,  or  published, 
may  the  Lord  deliver  his  Church. 

General  Synod's  Enlarged  Edition,  18-41,  965  Hymns. 

If  any  one  wishes  to  know  who  was  responsible  for  this, 
we  suppose  he  can  ascertain  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Gener- 
al Synod.  It  was  the  Hymn  Book  Committee  :  and  of  that 
Committee  Dr.  Schmucker's  name  appears  as  Chairman. 
Beyond  this  we  are  in  blissful  and  contented  ignorance.  For 
when  we  cannot  praise,  and  must  not  be  silent,  we  gladly 
escape  alike  the  temptation  and  the  appearance  of  being  per- 
sonal. Very  good  men  sometimes  do  very  bad  deeds  :  our 
business  is  with  the  deeds,  not  the  men. 

Sundry  minor  improvements  were  here  made  in  the  old 
book,  and  two  hymns,  Nos.  220  and  251,  were  displaced  by 
others.  The  first  of  these  is  "What  is  this  passing  scene  ?" 
above  referred  to  :  it  is  here  substituted  by  Watts'  tame  and 
characterless  paraphrase  of  part  of  the  49th  Psalm.  The 
other  is  a  lamentation  of  good  Joseph  Hart,  of  more  reputa- 
tion than  merit ;  it  had  been  repeated  in  No.  253,  and  here 
yields  to  a  poem  on  the  same  subject,  but  in  vastly  different 
style.  It  would  have  been  as  well  if  the  Editors  had  used 
their  power  in  omitting  a  few  more,  like  749,  and  341. 

"I'm  bound  for  New  Jerusalem  ;"  ***** 

"Lord,  and  am  I  yet  alive,  Tell  it  unto  sinners,  tell, 

Not  in  torrents,  not  in  hell  I  I  am,  I  am  out  of  hell !" 

***** 

But  such  cruel  mutilations  of  the  book's  truth  and  beauty 
were  by  no  means  part  of  their  plan.  And  so  all  that  we 
have  hero  to  comment  on  is  the  Appendix  of  199  hymns. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  the  principle  on  which  this 
Selection  was  made.  The  lowest  taste  and  judgment  seem 
to  prevail  ;  a  reckless  inconsistency,  in  doctrine,  temper, 
style,  and  spirit,  runs  riot :  Low  Church  and  Broad  Church, 
are  mixed  into  an  agreeable  compound,  presenting  some  of 
the  worst  qualities  of  both,  with  not  much  of  the  redeeming 
features  of  either.  Such  genuine  hymns  as  Alexander's  ren- 
dering of  "0  Haupt  voll  blut  und  wunden"  and  Sir  Robert 
Grant's  "solemn  Litany"  are  put  in  company  with  rollicking 
camp-meeting  melodies :    from    one  page  we  sing:   "All   hail 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  20T 

the  power  of  Jesus'  name,"  and  on  the  next  we  are  invited 
to  join  in  this  : 

''Saw  ye  m y  Savionr — Saw  ye  my  Saviour — Saw  ye  my  Savionrand  God?'' 

The  original  of  which  is,  we  think,  better  of  its  kind,  and 
certainly  more  consistent  with  its  subject,  than  the  above 
parody  : 

"Saw  ye  my  wee  thing  ?     Saw  ye  my  ain  thing  ? 
Saw  ve  my  true  love  down  on  yon  lea  ?" 

There  are  a  number  of  lyrics  addressed  to  '"Wandering 
pilgrims,  mourning  Christians, 

Weak  and  tempted  lambs  of  Christ." 

And  one  considerately  inquires  : 

"Mourner  is  thy  case  distressing?" 

Well  might  the  Ohio  compilers  (1845)  complain  of  "the 
strange  bias  of  many  hymns  in  the  book."  Several  more, 
though  of  a  higher  order,  are  hardly  more  adapted  to  the 
purposes  of  public  worship,  being  mere  sentimental  songs  on 
sacred  subjects.  Thus  804,  "0  turn  ye,  0  turn  ye,  for  why 
will  ye  die  ?"  and  803, 

''When  the  harvest  is  past,  and  the  When  the  beams  cease  to  break  of 
summer  is  gone,  the  sweet  Sabbath  morn, 

And  sermons  and  prayers  shall       And  Jesus  invites  thee  no  more,,r 
be  o'er ;  <tc. 

This  latter  is  a  very  favorable  sample.  However  pretty 
these  may  be,  and  however  occasionally  impressive,  they 
ought  not  to  be  sung  in  Church.  The  sermon  may  exhort 
men  as  much  as  it  pleases  ;  the  hymns  should  be  allowed  to 
praise  God. 

The  singular  quantity  and  quality  of  these  versified  exhor- 
tations are  not  the  only  indication  of  the  loose  taste  which 
marks  this  Appendix.  At  its  very  beginning  we  stumble 
over  three  Old  Testament  tales,  forced  into  metre  by  good 
John  Newton  ;  things  which  were  doubtless  edifying  enough 
for  the  Olney  cottagers  to  read,  but  are  by  no  means  fit  for 
us  to  sing ;  Nos.  768 — 790.  Further  on  (845,)  is  a  familiar 
piece  of  Toplady's,  but  familiar  only  in  Calvinistic  books  ;  a 
piece  which  has  for  its  subject,  basis,  and  sole  inspiration,  the 
predestinarian  doctrine  of  Perseverance  ;  apiece  headed,  in 
the  author's  works,  "Full  Assurance,"  and  insisting  on  that 


208  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

"assurance"  in  a  manner  not  repugnant  to  the  instincts,  in- 
tellect and  conscience  of  a  non-Calvinist,  and  greatly  adap- 
ted, as  non-Calvinists  would  be  apt  to  think,  to  encourage 
the  fanaticism,  Pharasaism,  and  Antinomianism  which  natur- 
ally grow  under  the  wing  of  such  a  creed  as  Toplady's.  Hdre 
is  the  last  half  verse  : 

"Yes  I  I  to  the  end  shall  endure,       More  happy,  but  not  more  secure, 
As  sure  as  the  earnest  is  given  ;         The  glorified  spirits  in  heaven." 

To  put  that  in  the  official  hymn  book  of  a  Church  which 
never  held  the  doctrines  of  Assurance  and  Perseverance, 
which  always  admitted  the  possibility  of  Falling  from  Grace, 
requires  catholicity  of  spirit  indeed.  Whether  the  compilers 
of  this  Appendix  did  not  know  what  was  Lutheran  doctrine, 
did  not  care  whether  what  they  put  in  agreed  with  Lutheran 
doctrine  or  not,  or  did  not  look  beyond  the  first  line  of  the 
hymns  which  they  inserted,  is  an  open  question. 

One  more  quotation  will  conclude  our  disagreeable  task  of 
pointing  out  the  gross  faults  in  a  compilation  that  has  few 
features  which  are  not  faults.  No.  948  is  that  horrible  pro- 
duct of  a  diseased  imagination  or  depraved  conscience,  which 
is  unfortunately  too  well  known  in  America.  The  bare  idea 
of  anybody  singing  it,  under  whatever  circumstances,  is 
shocking  ;  it  would  be  intolerable,  we  should  think,  amidst 
the  "raving  profanity"  of  the  wildest  camp-meeting  ;  and  the 
sin  of  printing  it  in  a  Church  hymn  book  is  not  easily  to  be 
pardoned.  The  few  who  may  happily  not  know  it  can  fancy 
its  dreadful  repetitions  from  a  single  verse  : 

"0  !  there  will  be  mourning  Friends  and  kindred  there  will  partf 
Before  the  judgment  seat ;  Mill  part  to  meet  no  more! 

When  this  world  is  burning  Wrath  will  sink  the  rebel's  heart, 
Beneath  Jehovah's  feet  I  While  saints  on  high  adore  /" 

This  gloating  over  the  horrors  of  eternity,  and  making  out 
that  the  purified  spirits  of  the  redeemed  will  rejoice  to  see 
their  children,  husbands,  brothers  sink  into  the  firey  lake,  is 
the  sort  of  religion  that  has  made  infidels  by  the  thousand. 

Of  the  199  hymns  in  this  Appendix,  only  99  were  thought 
fit  to  be  retained,  at  the  subsequent  revision.  If  we  have 
said  much  about  what  is  no  longer  in  existence,  it  is  because 
the  Past  goes  far  to  form  the  Present.  During  eleven  years 
this  book  was  used  by  most  of  our  English  churches  ;  and 
in  that  time  what  vast  harm  it  may  and  must  have  done ! 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  209 

Hoffman  s  Hymns,  1838,  247  H. 

The  only  book  of  the  kind,  so  far  as  we  know,  that  our 
communion  has  ever  produced.  The  title  page  tells  its  own 
story  :  "Evangelical  Hymns  :  Original  and  selected  :  De- 
signed for  the  use  oi  Families  and  Private  Circles ;  for  Social 
Prayer-Meetings,  Seasons  of  Revival,  or  other  Occasions  of 
Special  Interest.  By  Rev.  J.  N.  Hoffman.  'I  will  sing  of 
Mercy  and  Judgment.'  Chambersburg,  Pa.  Published  by 
W.  0.  Hickok.  1838."  24mo,  156  pages.  The  Preface 
says  the  book  is  meant  to  supply  the  felt  want  of  a  Collec- 
tion "adapted  especially  to  the  prevalence  of  Revivals,  which 
are  so  characteristic  of  the  present  age.  *  *  The  work 
contains  a  number  of  Hymns  which  have  been  composed 
since  most  Books,  now  used  by  the  Church,  were  published. 
*  *  Care  has  been  taken  to  give  the  work  a  strictly  devo- 
tional character,  and  to  adapt  it  to  the  various  exigencies  of 
the  awakened  and  enquiring.  No  hymns  contained  in  the 
Lutheran  Hymn  Book  now  in  use,  have  been  admitted  into 
this  Collection,  while  many  on  those  subjects  on  which  the 
former  is  not  sufficiently  full;,  have  been  added."  From  these 
statements  it  will  be  seen  that  the  plan  and  tendency  of  the 
book  is,  as  nearly  everything  at  that  day  was,  distinctively 
new-measure :  yet  certain  ordinances  peculiar  to  our  Church 
are  worthily  emphasized,  as  will  appear  from  the  order  of 
contents.  Being,  and  Attributes,  and  Word  of  God,  Hymn 
1 :  Christ,  8  :  Holy  Spirit,  30 :  Worship,  41 :  Fall  ahdHu- 
man  Depravity,  56  :  Revivals,  61  :  Penitential,  74  :  Expos- 
tulating, 89 :  Inviting,  96 :  Christian  Experience,  116 : 
Praise,  148  :  Church  and  Kingdom  of  Christ,  155 :  Cate- 
chetical, 170  :  Confirmation,  183  :  Missionary,  192  :  Death 
and  Judgment,  203 :  Heaven,  215 :  Miscellaneous,  221 : 
Dismission,  231 :  Doxologies,  234-247.  The  Catechetical 
and  Confirmation  hymns  are  not  of  any  great  merit,  but 
their  number  shows  more  attention  to  one  of  our  most  im- 
portant points  of  practice  than  the  general  tenor  of  the  book 
would  have  warranted  us  in  expecting.  This  book  appeared 
three  years  before  the  General  Synod's  Appendix,  and  some 
of  its  hymns  were  afterwards  transferred  to  that.  We  find 
"O  sacred  Head"  here,  No.  27,  in  the  same  abridged  reading 
— a  very  good  one — which  is  kept  in  the  General  Synod.  As 
to  the  "Original  Hymns,"  we  suppose  them  to  be  three 
marked  H.  M.,  one  H. — and  perhaps  two  which  we  do  not 
otherwise  know,  but  possessing  considerable  force,  by  "Mrs. 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  62.         27 


210  Lutheran  Hymnology . 

McCartee."  Of  these  one  or  two  were  reprinted  in  the  sub- 
sequent Appendix  to  General  Synod.  "Mourner,  is  thy 
case  distressing,"  is,  we  suppose,  by  Mr.  Hoffman  :  "Quench 
not  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,"  which  is  in  the  present  General 
Synod's  Collection — at  least  in  some  copies — insanely  and 
slanderously  ascribed  to  Charles  Wesley,  is  credited  in  Hoff- 
man to  "M.  S.,"  but  is  by  Thomas  Hastings. 

The  book  does  not  call  for  any  special  criticism.  Watts 
gives  34  hymns,  C.  Wesley  11 ;  we  have  not  taken  the 
trouble  to  count  the  rest.  The  great  majority  of  the  con- 
tents are  not  worth  preserving;  but  hardly  any  of  them  sink 
so  low  as  those  we  have  quoted,  and  a  number  more,  in  the 
General  Synod's  Appendix  of  1841.  A  spirit  of  sincere 
and  earnest  piety  pervades  the  volume;  and  it  is  a  good 
enough  compilation  for  the  purpose. 

Dr.  KrautJis  S.  S.  Hymns,  1838.     217 J  10  H. 

The  first  English  Lutheran  Sunday  School  Hymn  Book : 
its  author  was  then  pastor  of  St.  Matthew's  Church,  Phila- 
delphia. Title:  "Hymns,  Selected  and  Arranged  for  Sun- 
day Schools,  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  and 
adapted  to  Sunday  Schools  in  general.  Philadelphia :  Wil- 
liam Brown,  Printer,  1838."  32mo.,  181  pages  of  hymns, 
and  ten  of  First  lines.  Contents :  I.  Hymns  on  God  and 
his  works,  1.  II.  The  Doctrines  of  Christianity,  a.  The 
source  of  them,  3.  b.  What  God  is  and  does,  5.  c.  Angels, 
9.  d.  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  10.  III.  The 
means  of  Grace,  21.  IV.  The  Duties  of  human  beings 
and  the  Christian  Character,  27.  V.  Death,  Resurrection 
Judgment,  Eternity,  78.  VI.  Miscellaneous,  a.  Festivals 
and  Anniversaries,  108 ;  b.  Diffusion  of  Religion,  125 ;  c. 
Seasons,  129 ;  d.  For  teachers  at  their  meetings,  135 ; 
e.  Special  hymns  for  children,  162 ;  f.  Morning  and  Eve- 
ning, 201  ;  g.  Parting  and  Dismission,  206;  h.  Doxologies, 
212-217.     Additional,  1-10. 

Most  of  the  contents  are  of  the  familiar  sort,  taken  from 
the  large  books  ;  comparatively  few  are  distinctively  chil- 
dren's hymns.  Two  are  noticeable;  one  a  Christmas  hymn, 
No.  109,  "Glory  to  God  !  the  holy  angels  cry  :"  the  other 
Moravian,  from  the  Countess  Zinzendorf.  Its  force  and 
quaintness,  standing  solitary  among  two  hundred  English 
lyrics,  strike  one : 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  211 

,wWhen  I  visit  Jesus'  grave  in  spirit,  Jesus'  cross,  his  last  hours  in  his 

It  is  never  done  in  vain  ;  passion, 

Since  'tis   only  from  his  death  and       Jesus'  body  and  his  blood, 

merit  Jesus'   stripes,  his  wounds  and  ex- 

I  can  life  and  strength  obtain.  piration 

Shall  remain  my  highest  good." 

Rough  that  is,  and  unsingable,  of  course ;  but  with  more 
matter  in  it, — more  doctrine,  life,  and  solid  truth  and  mean- 
ing— than  twenty  ordinary  English  hymns.  The  German 
language  is  the  great  fount  of  sacred  song ;  and  if  <rar 
fathers,  thirty,  fifty  years  ago,  had  had  a  few  dozen  respecta- 
ble translations  from  it  and  been  willing  to  use  them,  the 
Church  in  America  would  be  in  better  condition  now. 

Dr.  Passavanfs  S,  8.  Hymns,  1843,  304  H. 

"Hymns :  Selected  and  Original,  for  Sunday  Schools,  of 
■the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church ;  with  a  Supplement  con- 
taining Hymns  for  the  use  of  Infant  Schools.  Baltimore  : 
Published  by  T.  Newton  Kurtz,  No.  151  Pratt  street." 
32mo.,  pp.  256,  xiv.  Preface  dated  "Baltimore,  Md.,  Aug. 
28,  1843."  This  is  much  like  the  preceding,  on  which  it  is 
more  or  less  based,  and  which  it  superseded.  Having  no 
particular  character  of  any  sort,  there  is  not  much  to  be  said 
about  it.  But  we  have  one  idea  (not  original)  to  ventilate, 
which  applies  not  only  to  this,  but  to  most  Sunday  School 
Hymn  Books,  past  and  present,  used  by  us  or  by  other 
bodies.  These  books  seem  to  forget  that  our  Saviour  took 
little  children  in  his  arms  and  blessed  them ;  that  he  declared 
the  kingdom  to  be  of  such ;  that  he  ordained  the  sacrament 
of  baptism,  whereby  they  become  members  of  his  Church, 
and  receive  the  seed  of  regeneration.  All  this  is  ignored, 
and  the  Christian  infant  put  on  the  same  footing  with  men 
born,  bred,  and  hardened  in  unresisted  and  unpardoned  sin. 
He  is  prayed  for,  and  taught  to  pray  himself,  as  if  he  were 
a  thief  or  murderer ;  dogmas  of  a  perverse  theology,  which 
neither  his  head  nor  heart  can  take  hold  of,  are  piled  around 
and  above  him,  a  wall  sufficient  to  shut  out  the  kindly  light 
of  heaven :  hell-fire  and  lectures  on  innate  depravity  are 
flung  in  his  face ;  he  is  howled  at,  and  groaned  over :  and 
the  poor  baptized  innocent  is  taught  to  expect  as  necessary 
such  a  change  as  the  persecutor  Saul,  or  the  profligate  tinker 
Thomas  Olivers,  had  to  endure :  tc  believe  that  God's  good 
Spirit  must  come  by  abnormal  spasms  and  agonies,  when  all 
the  time  he  is  trying  to  renew  the  soul — if  men  would  but  co- 


212  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

"operate  with  him,  or  else  let  his  work  alone — by  a  gradual^ 
gentle,  imperceptible,  but  incessant  process,  from  the  earliest 
hours  of  life.  Unfortunately  both  Dr.  Watts  and  Charles 
Wesley  held  very  erroneous  views  with  regard  to  these  mat- 
ters ;  and  the  mass  of  inferior  hyrnnists  followed  in  their 
wake.  Now  we  may  preach  the  truth  in  vain,  so  long  as  we 
sing  heresy:  and  with  our  hymn  books,  for  children  as  well 
as  adults,  are  made  to  conform  to  the  Church's  faith,  we  shall 
never  have  that  peace  which  can  only  come  after  purity. 
The  book  before  us  (Dr.  Passavant  would  do  very  differently 
now)  is  not  worse  than  most,  not  so  bad  as  many;  but  how 
inappropriate,  for  the  distinctive  use  of  children,  are  such 
hymns  as  these:  "Child  of  sin  and  sorrow,"  "0  that  my 
load  of  sin  were  gone!"  "Come,  trembling  sinner:"  "Stay, 
thou  insulted  Spirit,  stay:"  "Where  shall  a  guilty  child  re- 
tire :"  "Lamb  of  God,  for  sinners  slain  :"  "Let  the  world 
their  virtue  boast:"  "Hell !  'tis  a  word  of  dreadful  sound  :'r 
(Nos.  90,  100,  101,  104,  108,  110,  121,  139.)— How  gross 
is  this  (93),  if  Dr.  Watts  did  write  it : 

"What  if  the  Lord  grow  wroth,  and  'Tis  dangerous  to  provoke  our  God 
swear,  His  power  and  vengeance  none 

While  I  refuse  to  read  and  pray,  can  tell ;       * 

That  He'll  refuse  to  lend  an  ear,       One  stroke  of  his  almighty  rod 
To  all  my  groans  another  day  I  Shall  send  young  sinners  quick  to 

hell." 

Few  things  can  be  more  insulting  to  the  Lord  and  injurious 
to  the  child, — more  sure  to  alienate  affection  and  plant  dis- 
trust, to  undo  all  the  effects  of  Holy  Baptism  and  christian 
nurture — than  this.  The  child,  if  he  have  a  fair  share  of 
mind  and  spirit,  will  unconsciously  rebel  against  such  a  God 
and  such  a  government  as  this.  The  divinest  things  within 
him,  his  yet  unperverted  conscience,  his  tender  heart,  his 
native  sense  of  fitness  and  right,  cry  out  against  such 
monstrous  fictions,  and  refuse  to  own  the  tyrannous  rule  of 
brute  force  and  coward  fear.  We  have  borne  the  incubus  of 
these  Puritan  errors  long  enough:  it  is  time  the  Church 
arose,  in  the  sublime  simplicity  of  her  own  pure  faith,  to  give 
her  children  bread  instead  of  stones,  meat  in  place  of  poison. 
Of  course  everything  in  the  book  is  not  bad  ;  there  are 
some  lyrics  of  genuine  simplicity  and  tenderness,  well  fitted 
to  their  work,  as  "When  little  Samuel  woke,"  and  "Gentle 
Jesus,  meek  and  mild."  But  that  there  should  be  any  such 
as  we  have  indicated,  is  altogether  wrong.    If  any  one  thinks 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  213 

we  have  said  too  much,  or  said  it  unnecessarily,  we  would 
remind  him  that  the  evil  has  not  been  abated  ;  that  the  body 
of  this  book  is  still  published  by  Mr.  Kurtz,  and  used  in 
many  nominally  Lutheran  Sunday  Schools.  We  are  sorry 
for  it. 

Of  the  literary  character  of  this  work  we  have  no  need  to 
speak.  But  here  is  its  "Index  of  General  Titles  :"  Charac- 
ter, Works,  and  Providence  of  God,  Page  5 ;  The  Scrip- 
tures, 18;  Prayer,  24;  Praise,  36;  Sunday  School  and 
Public  Worship,  47  ;  Early  Piety,  68  ;  Penitential,  84  ;  Re- 
demption through  Jesus  Christ,  97  ;  Death,  Judgment,  Hea- 
ven and  Hell,  107  ;  Various  Occasions  and  Subjects,  (here  come 
what  there  is  of  the  Festivals)  119 ;  Teachers'  Meetings  and 
Monthly  Concerts,  160 ;  Missionary,  182 ;  Anniversary  Oc- 
casions, 198;  Dismissions  and  Doxologies,  218  ;  Supplement 
(Infant  School  Hymns)  223-256. 

Old  Ohio  Hymn  Book.  1845,  458  Hymns. 

"A  Collection  of  Hymns  and  Prayers,  for  Public  and  Pri- 
vate Worship.  Published  by  Order  of  the  Evangelical  Lu- 
theran Joint  Synod  of  Ohio,  Zanesville.  Printed  at  the  Lu- 
theran Standard  Office,  1845."  The  Preface  is  signed  by 
"The  Hymn  Book  Committee,"  without  date,  and  says  : 
"The  publication  of  this  book  was  called  for  by  the  unani- 
mous voice  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of  Ohio, 
The  increasing  demand  for  hymn  books  ;  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  them  from  the  East ;  the  very  high  price  at  which 
they  were  usually  sold  ;  and  above  all  the  strange  bias  of 
many  hymns  in  the  book,  hitherto  used,  induced  the  publica- 
tion of  the  present  work.  A  joint  committee  was  appointed 
by  the  three  branches  of  the  above  Synod,''  etc.  They  "en- 
deavored so  far  as  practical,  to  follow  their  instructions,  viz: 
to  make  the  General  Synod's  book  *  *  the  basis  of  the 
new  selection.  *  *  This  book,  in  its  arrangement,  essen- 
tially differs,  in  some  important  features,  from  the  Old  Col- 
lection. The  hymns  were  mainly  selected  from  the  hymn 
book  published  by  the  'General  Synod,'  some  were  added 
from  the  hymn  book  of  the  Ev.  Lutheran  Synod  of  New 
York,  a  small  number  from  the  'Common  Prayer,'  and  a  few 
from  other  sources.  Had  the  Committee  been  less  restricted 
in  their  choice,  a  better  selection  would  have  been  made." 
*  *  "The  Committee  by  no  means  claim  infallibility  for 
themselves,  nor  perfection  for  their  work.  As  it  is,  they  be- 
lieve this  book  to  be  better  adapted  to  the  views  and  wants, 


214  Lutheran  Bymnology. 

and  more  acceptable  to  the  members,  of  the  congregations 
of  the  Ev.  Lutheran  Church  in  the  West,  than  the  Old  Col- 
lection has  been." 

The  book  is  identical  in  shape  and  size  with  the  New  York 
Collection,  labelled  on  the  back  'Lutheran  Hymns,'  and  rath- 
er dimly  printed  on  not  the  best  paper.  There  are  6  pages 
of  Title,  Preface,  &c,  353  of  Hymns,  15  of  First  Lines, 
and  79  at  the  end,  of  Prayers,  taken  from  the  New  York 
Book.     Here  is  the  Table  of  Contents  : 

I.  Of  God.  1.  The  being  and  Derfections  of  God,  Hymn 
1;  2.  Of  the  Trinity  (see  Doxologies,)  19 ;  3.  The  Works 
of  God,  22  ;  4.  Providence  of  God,  26  ;  5.  Praise  to  God, 
41.  II.  Fall  and  Depravity  of  Man,  54.  III.  Christ.  1. 
His  Divinity,  65  ;  2.  His  Mission  and  Works,  viz  :  Advent 
and  Birth  of  Christ,  69 ;  His  Life  and  Example,  79  ;  His 
Sufferings  and  Death,  85  ;  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension, 
93  ;  3.  Salvation  through  Him,  102.  IV.  Holy  Spirit.  1. 
His  Influence,  131  ;  2.  Gospel  Call,  138  ;  3.  Repentance, 
176  ;  4.  Faith,  200.  (This  is  a  queer  arrangement.)  V. 
Means  of  Grace.  1.  The  Word  of  God,  206  ;  2.  Baptism, 
215;  3.  The  Lord's  Supper,  221.  VI.  The  Christian  1. 
His  Conversion,  233;  2.  His  Duty  and  Graces,  Prayer,  Love 
to  Christ,  Confidence  and  Trust  in  God,  Christian  Graces, 
246;  3.  His  various  Relations,  287.  VII.  The  Church. 
1.  General  and  Missionary  Hymns,  313  :  2.  Public  Worship, 
320;  3.  Pastoral,  336;  4.  Confirmation,  343;  5.  Congre- 
gational, 355.  VIII.  Consummation  of  things  ;  1.  Death, 
363;  2.  Resurrection,  388;  3.  Judgment  and  Eternity,  392. 
IX.  Special  Occasions ;  1.  The  Seasons,  405  ;  2.  The  New 
Year,  411 ;  3.  Morning  and  Evening,  417  ;  4.  Sickness  and 
Recovery,  429  ;  5.  Public  and  National  Blessings  and  Afflic- 
tions, 436  ;  Collections,  446.  X.  Dismissions,  450  ;  Doxol- 
ogies, 454-458. 

This  arrangement  is  more  churchly  than  anything  we  have 
had  hitherto,  (if  we  except  the  Tennessee  book,  which  is 
rather  a  caricature  of  churchliness  than  the  thing  itself,)  but 
not  so  much  so  as  we  might  expect  from  the  Ohio  Synod, 
nor  sufficiently  so  to  satisfy  that  body  in  later  years.  Except 
the  rather  absurd  placing  of  such  subjective  topics  as  Repen- 
tance and  Faith  under  the  purely  objective  head  of  "Holy 
Spirit,"  it  is  respectable  enough  :  though  it  is  better  to  hon- 
estly express  the  great  Festival  and  Seasons,  than  merely  to 
imply  them.  We  do  not  see  why  people  who  believe  in  the 
facts  which  those  names  represent,  should  be  afraid   to  come 


LufTieran  Mymnology.  215 

out  and  say  Advent,  Christmas,  Epiphany,  Passion,  Easter, 
Pentecost.     But  our  Ohio  brethren  have  done  that  since. 

The  matter  of  this  compilation  deserves  and  demands  no 
special  notice,  since  it  is  taken  almost  entirely  from  the  Col- 
lections of  the  General  Synod  and  New  York  Synod.  From 
those  two  volumes  together  four  hundred  and  fifty  very 
decent  hymns  might  have  been  culled  ;  but  it  was  not  so  done 
here.  The  book  is  more  distinctively  orthodox  than  the  New 
York  one,  and  perhaps  a  very  little  warmer  in  feeling ;  and 
it  is  more  rational  and  less  unchurchly  than  the  General 
Synod's  2d  edition  ;  but  it  is  scarcely  superior  in  literary 
merit  to  either.  Many  of  the  dull  and  heavy  productions  that 
abound  in  both  are  carried  over,  and  add  their  weight  to  the 
Ohio  volume.  The  compilers  seem  to  have  felt  most  sympa- 
thy for  the  New  York  book  ;  and  it,  rather  than  the  General 
Synod's,  gives  the  prevailing  tone ;  not  in  doctrine  in- 
deed, but  in  temper,  style,  and  spirit.  The  few  hymns  from 
other  sources  are,  in  general  an  improvement.  Of  the  four 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  in  this  book,  Watts  gives  130,  Dod- 
dridge 44,  Steele  28,  C.  Wesley  18  only,  Newton  11,  Cowper 
9,  and  Montgomery  6 ;  the  rest  we  have  not  counted. 

West  India  Bymn  Book,  1850,  150  R. 

Though  this  scarcely  comes  within  our  present  scope,  it 
may  be  briefly  noticed  as  a  historical  and  literary  curiosity. 
It  is  a  small  24mo  of  187  pages.  "Hymns  for  the  use  of 
the  Lutheran  congregations  in  the  Danish  West  India  Islands, 
4Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly,'  &c  Col.  Ill,- 
16.  Copenhagen  :  Published  by  C.  A.  Reitzel,  Printed  by 
Bianco  Luno,  1850."  Overleaf  is  "Authorized  by  the  Dan- 
ish Government.  At  the  end  stands  this  note:  "This 
Co  lection  was  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  K.  Bagger,  formerly  of 
St.  Croix.  In  part  these  Hymns  are  of  original  English 
composition,  some  are  translated  from  the  Danish,  some  also 
are  borrowed  from  other  collections."  Contents:  "Hymns 
of  Praise  and  Thanksgiving,  1-56.  I.  God  and  his  attributes, 
1 ;  II.  Creation,  7  ;  III.  Providence,  9  ;  IV.  Redemption, 
15 ;  V.  Christmas  Hymns,  26 ;  VI.  The  Sufferings  and 
Death  of  our  Lord,  31 ;  VII.  Easter  Hymns,  36 ;  VIIL 
The  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  40 ;  IX.  Christ  the  Lord  gov- 
erning his  Church,  43  ;  X.  The  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Gospel 
Word,  47  ;  XL  Eternity,  53.  Hymns  of  Prayer  and  Suppli- 
cation, 57-150.  I.  True  Christianity,  57  ;  II.  Repentance, 
Faith  and  Forgiveness  of  Sins,  64 ;  III.  Love  to  God  and 


216  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

Confidence  in  Him,  74  ;  IV.  Brotherly  Love,  87  ;  V.  Fol- 
lowing Christ,  91  ;  VI.  Diligent  use  of  the  Word  of  God, 
Watching  and  Praying,  97  ;  VII.  Holy  Baptism,  112;  VIII. 
Holy  Communion,  115 ;  IX.  Death,  Resurrection,  Judg- 
ment, 121;  X.  Hymns  for  Particular  Occasions,  127-150; 
viz:  For  the  King,  127,  Confirmation,  128,  Prayers  of  In- 
tercession, 133,  Catechising,  136,  For  the  Sick,  138,  Conse- 
cration of  a  Church,  140,  End  of  the  Year,  141,  New  Year, 
142,  Marriage,  145,  For  the  Sunday  Schools,  147,  Con- 
clusion 149,  The  Litany  (prose)  150. 

But  33  hymns  of  the  150,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  are  of 
English  origin,  being  from  Watts,  Tate  and  Brady,  and 
various  sources.  Some  of  the  translations  are  from  German 
originals,  possibly  through  a  Danish  medium  ;  and  a  few 
seem  to  be  taken  from  Psalmodia  Germanica  and  the  Mora- 
vian books.  The  bulk  of  matter,  we  suppose,  was  "done  into 
English"  by  the  editor  or  his  friends  ;  and  reads  like  the 
work  of  an  educated  man,  not  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
language  (though  rather  more  so  than  Dr.  Kunze  and  his 
assistants),  and  with  a  tolerable  knack  at  rhyme  and  metre. 
The  matter,  as  is  almost  always  the  case  with  our  native  Lu- 
theran hymns,  is  excellent ;  solid,  pure,  and  warm,  far 
beyond  the  run  of  our  English  lyrics  ;  the  offspring  and  ex- 
ponent of  a  rational,  wholesome,  and  live  Christianity.  Here 
is  a  nice  little  Christmas  verse,  concise  and  to  the  point : 

The  angels  bring  good  news  to-day:  We  can  our  kindest  Father  name, 
"To  you  is  born  a  Saviour,"  His  Son  our  loving  Brother. 

\Vho  will  us  from  the  crooked  way  His  heaven  is  now  our  native  home, 
Of  sin  and  death  deliver.  His  Church  has  unto  us  become 

And  God  from  whom  the  angels  came      A  dear  and  holy  mother. 

One  of  the  Redemption  or  Advent  hymns  begins  thus: 

Zion,  rise  !  0  earth,  rejoice  1  Branches  scatter  in  his  wny, 

Lo,  to  thee  thy  King  is  coming  1  At  his  feet  thy  garments  lay  ; 

To  his  praise  prepare  thy  voice,  Thus  with  song  and  jubilation 

In  his  footsteps  joy  is  blooming.  Hail  the  King  of  thy  salvation. 

The  first  and  last  verse  of  an  Easter  Hymn  : 

0  let  the  world  of  gloomy  death  My  days  on  earth  may  quickly  pass : 
Its  own  sad  message  carry;  I  fear  not,  death,  thy  power; 

In  Jesus  will  we  place  our  faith,  The  strength  of  man  fades  like  th» 
And  gladly  with  him  tarry.  grass, 

He  is  our  true  and  strongest  Friend,       His  beauty  like  a  flower. 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  217 

Who  will  us  all 'gainst  death  defend,  But  if  I  trust,  0  God,  in  Thee, 
Lead  us  to  life  and  glory.  Thou  from  my  grave  shalt  quicken  me 

Dust  only  dust  can  cover. 

From  a  Communion  Hymn  of  considerable  beauty  : 

Jesus,  to  taste    thy  delicious    com-  Teach  me  to  worship  the  letter  no 
munion  longer, 

Is  now  the  longing  of  spirit  and       Which  makes  but  outwardly  hon- 
heart ;  est  and  fine  ; 

Keep  me  from   all  that  withholds  Give  me  to  thirst  after  Thee  and  to 
from  thy  union,  hunger, 

Draw  me  to  Thee  ;  my  Beginning       That   I   may  call   myself  finally 
Thou  art,  thine. 

Show  me  how  sin  my  heart  sorely 

hath  rended,  Let  me,  0  Jesus,  not  call  on   Thee 

Show  me  the  gulf  of  perdition  in  vainly  ! 

me,  Hungry,   exhausted,   and  faint  is 

That  my  bad  nature  to  death  may  my  soul, 

be  bended,  Saviour,   Immanuel,    show  thy  face 

And  I  in  spirit  may  live  but  for  plainly  ; 

Thee.  Then   shall   my   wounds  and   my 

sores  be  made  whole. 
Hear  Thou,  0  Jesus,  thy  dove  which    Once  Thou   didst   answer:    "They 
giieveth,  might  indeed  languish, 

Shepiierd,   0  seek  for  thy  lamb       If  I  would  send  them  now  fasting 
led  astray  ;  away  ;" 

Be  to  my  thirst  as  a  grape  that  re-  Wouldst  Thou  suffer  that  now  in  my 
lieveth,  anguish, 

Cleanse  Thou  my  heart  from  de-     Wanting  thy  food,  I  should  faint 
filement,  I  pray.  in  the  way  ? 

This,  uFor  the  Sunday  Schools,"  is  admirable  : 

Dearest  Lord,  we  come  to  Thee  ;       And  we  know  it  from  thy  Word, 
We   are  ignorant,   but   Thou  wilt  That  the  Holy  Spirit  Thou  wilt  send 
teach  us,  us. 

We  are  poor,  but  graciously 
With  thy  heavenly  gifts  Thou  wilt       Be  our  Shepherd  good  !  0  may 
enrich  tis.  We  obey  thy  blessed  voice  for  ever, 

Dark  and  dangerous  is  our  way : 
We  are  weak,  but  Thou,  0  Lord,  Guide  Thou  us  to  life's  eternal  river 
Mercifully  wilt  and  canst  defend  us  ; 

This,  for  "Catechising,"  has  a  very  sweet  simplicity : 

Vol.  XVI.  No.  62.        28 


218  Lutheran  Hymnology: 

Lord,  Thou  art  the  Truth  and  Way;  Oh,  Thou  all  our  frailty  know'st . 

Guide  us,  lest  we  go  astray.  In  ourselves  we  cannot  trust, 

Lord,  Thou  art  the  Life  :  by  Thee  Send  Thou  us  thy  Holy  Ghost. 
May  we  gain  eternity. 

These  are  the  right  sort  of  thing  in   substance.     The  dif- 

ft  ft 

ficulty  is  to  get  a  casket  worthy  of  the  jewel  ;  and  in  trans- 
ferrins: foreign  hymns  to  our  English  tongue,  to  have  form  fit- 

ft  ft  •/  DO 

ting  with  the  spirit,  the  expression  not  sinking  far  below  the 
ideas  When  this  is  obviated,  and  we  can  find  renderings  that 
are  satisfactory  and  singable,  these  sweet  songs  from  poets 
of  our  own  communion  across  the  water  will  make  most  pre- 
cious additions  to  our  hymnology,  and  help  us  not  a  little  to 
recover  the  faith  of  our  fathers. 

General  Synod's  New  Edition,  1850. 

This  differs  from  the  book  now  in  use  only  in  "some  mis- 
takes that  had  been  made  as  the  work  was  passing  through 
the  press,"  which  were  corrected  in  the  latter.  We  quote 
from  the  "Advertisement  to  the  Large  Edition"  of  1852 : 
"the  most  material  of  these  is  the  substitution  of  new  hymns 
in  place  of  Nos.  357,  775,  and  926,  the  first  having  been 
inserted  by  a  mistake  of  the  printer,  and  the  others  being 
duplicates  of  Nos.  60  and  415."     These  are  marked ff. 

General  Synod's  Revised  Edition,  1852,  1024  Hymns. 

We  suppose  Drs.  Reynolds,  Baugher,  and  Schmucker  to 
have  been  the  sub-committee  who  got  this  into  its  present 
shape.  To  them  we  owe  it,  that  the  official  book  of  the 
Church  is  not  positively  absurd  and  indecent ;  that  it  would 
not  now  be  easily  mistaken  for  a  compilation  in  the  interest 
of  the  Hard-shell  Baptists,  or  adapted  to  the  use  of  negro 
camp-meetings.  For  difficult  as  it  may  be  to  praise  the  work 
on  its  own  intrinsic  merits,  there  is  room  for  no  little  satisfac- 
tion and  thankfulness,  when  we  compare  it  with  its  prede- 
cessor. The  best  thing  would  have  been  for  the  Commit- 
tee to  have  made  a  new  book  altogether;  but  since  the 
constituted  authorities  could  not,  or  would  not  do  that,  it  was 
vastly  better  to  have  an  imperfect  reform  than  none  at  all. 
The  changes,  so  far  as  they  go,  are  for  the  most  part  great 
improvements  :  the  most  crying  nuisances  in  the  old  editions 
are  abated  :  the  profane  and  pernicious  matter  which  we 
thought  it  our  duty  to  expose  in  earlier  pages  of  this  article, 
is,  with  much   more  only  less  glaring  in  deformity,  thrown 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  119 

out,  and  its  place  supplied  by  matter  always  decent  and  often 
really  good :  and  though  these  alterations  constitute  but 
one-fifth  of  the  volume,  a  great  advance  in  the  style,  temper, 
and  churchliness  of  the  work  is  thereby  gained.  In  the 
body  of  the  book  (Hymns  1-766)  there  are  forty-nine  new 
pieces,  displacing  as  many  old  ones.  Ten  are  from  the  Ger- 
man ;  Mos.  17,  43,  62,  70,  85,  220,  245,  341,  352,  357. 
The  others  are  90,  93,  98,  121,  134,  184,  197,  208,  213, 
214,  226,  281,  306,  308,  330.  353,  411,  412,  415,  425,  463, 
481,  512,  513.  537,  545,  558,  560,  576,  588,  594,  601,  657, 
681,  694,  713,  724,  725,  726,  749.  Several  others  are 
marked  (t)  as  being  new,  which  are  not.  Of  the  former 
Appendix,  about  one  hundred  hymns,  or  one-half,  were  re- 
tained;  the  rest  being  treated  with  the  contempt  they 
deserved.  Thus  about  eight  hundred  and  sixteen  hymns  in 
this  Revised  Edition  are  old,  while  the  remaining  two  hun- 
dred and  eight  (including  Doxologies)  are  added  here.  For 
the  authorship  (we  give  an  approximate  merely,  not  a  state- 
ment of  precise  and  full  correctness,)  Watts  gives  182,  C. 
Wesley  56,  Steele  50,  Doddridge  43,  Newton  39,  Montgom- 
ery 30,  Cowper  24,  the  Stennetts  17,  Beddome  12,  Kelly 
12,  Fawcett  12,  Heber  9,  Needham  8,  Collyer  8,  Toplady  7, 
S.  F.  Smith  7,  Hart,  Barbauld,  Kirke  White,  and  Hoskins 
6  each,  and  a  vast  variety  of  versifiers,  known  and  unknown, 
of  small  merit  and  none  at  all,  the  remainder.  About  thirty- 
live  are  from  the  German,  and  two  (one  of  them  not  generally 
known  as  such)  from  the  Latin. 

The  title  whioh  all  the  editions  of  this  have  borne, 
"Hymns  Selected  and  Original"  or,  as  we  find  it  in  some 
copies,"  Original  and  Selected"  would,  if  it  meant  anything, 
imply  that,  a  fair  proportion  of  the  contents, — one-half,  one- 
third,  one-fifth, — were  "original."  It  does  not  mean  any- 
thing, being  simply  an  absurd  misnomer.  We  suppose  there  is 
nothing  in  the  book  which  claims  to  be  "original,"  except 
those  hymns  from  Dr.  Schmucker's  pen,  (two  of  which  ap- 
peared in  the  original  edition  of  1828,  the  other  in  the  Ap- 
pendix of  1841,)  and  five  German  translations  by  Dr. 
Reynolds.  Though  Dr.  Schmucker's  mind  is  not  commonly 
supposed  to  be  of  the  poetical  order,  his  verses,  here  pre- 
sented, are  very  respectable  in  matter  and  form.  The  first 
of  them,  No.  456,  we  always  liked.  It  will  not  do  to  sing  it 
in  Church,  and  some  of  the  rhymes  are  negligent ;  but  there 
is  enough  force  of  thought,  tenderness  of  sentiment,  and 
simplicity  of  expression,  to  make  it  a  very  pretty  little  poem. 


220  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

It  is,  we  think,  of  German  origin.  In  Lyra  Germanica,  vol. 
1,  p.  161,  is  a  piece  whose  original  perhaps  suggested  it. 
The  others,  555  and  898,  for  ministerial  meetings  and  the  like, 
are  very  fair  ;  from  the  New  School  point  of  view,  excellent. 
"Original"  hymns  are  usually  trash  ;  but  these  are  better 
than  one-third,  and  as  good  as  three-fifths,  of  the  Collection. 
Dr.  Reynold's  translations  (776,  794,  843,  965,  966,)  are 
well  enough  in  their  way  ;  but  only  one  of  them  (776),  we 
think,  is  worthy  of  the  Church's  use.  That  one  is  not  won- 
derful, though,  for  want  of  a  better,  it  will  do,  being  simple 
in  style  and  singable  in  metre. 

The  insertion  of  thirty  hymns  from  the  German  was  a 
confessed  experiment,  and  has  proved  a  notorious  failure. 
With  very  few  exceptions  as  to  piece,  place,  or  time,  they 
are  never  sung,  and  never  can  be.  And  on  the  basis  of  this 
fact,  many  people,  no  doubt,  have  thought  and  said,  "See 
the  impossibility  of  employing  translated  hymns  in  our  En- 
glish worship,  and  the  uselessness  of  attempting  it!"  Not  a 
bit  of  it ;  nothing  of  the  kind  is  proved  or  made  probable. 
The  impossibility  of  singing  Dr.  Mills'  versions  may  be 
shown,  and  the  uselessness  of  attempting  to  introduce  such 
metres  as  those  of  hymns  17,  352,  794,  819,  858,  which  are 
not  like  anything  that  we  Americans  know  or  wish  to  know; 
but  no  more.  The  translations  are  not  good  enough  ;  not  at 
all  worthy,  in  force  and  grace,  in  fire,  dignity,  and  tender- 
ness, of  their  originals;  and  most  of  them  appear  in  a  me- 
trical form  adapted  to  repel  interest  and  admiration. 
Moreover,  the  German  originals  are  not  generally  the  ones 
best  in  themselves,  or  best  adapted  to  our  purpose.  Perhaps 
the  compilers  did  as  well  as  they  could  at  that  time  :  but  the 
experiment  has  not  been  fairly  tried.  Miss  Wentworth's 
precious  volumes  had  not  then  appeared,  nor  their  admirable 
complement  by  an  unknown  hand,  "Hymns  from  the  Land 
of  Luther  :"  and  Miss  Cox's  valuable  little  work  was  scarcely 
known  on  this  side  the  Atlantic.  So  the  editors  were  redu- 
ced to  the  "Ilorae  Germanicce"  (Auburn,  1845)  of  Dr.  Mills, 
who,  however  excellent  a  man  and  professor,  was  no  poet: 
and  to  such  additions  as  they  might  themselves  make  to 
order.  Now  that  a  thing  was  not  done  successfully  at  one 
time  and  by  one  man  or  set  of  men,  does  not  prove  that  it 
cannot  or  will  not  be  accomplished,  under  more  favorable 
auspices,  by  others.  Translations  from  the  German  need  no 
more  be  stiff,  dull,  heavy,  or  unsinsrablc,  than  original  lyrics. 
Many  translations  are  all  this,  and  so   are   many  native  En- 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  221 

glish  verses.  But  that  it  is  possible  for  a  translation  to  pos 
sess  all  the  ease,  grace  and  vigor  that  we  can  desire,  may 
appear  from  several  hymns  even  in  the  General  Synod's 
book,  where  but  one  of  them  is  credited  as  a  translation. 
What  nobler  songs  of  praise  and  prayer  have  we  than  788, 
from  "0  Haupt  voll  blut  und  wunden  ;"  180,  "0  Du 
allersliste  Freude  ;"  72,  a  part  of  "Befiehl  du  deine  wege  ?" 
No.  357  in  the  old  edition,  displaced  by  Mills'  feeble  imita- 
tion of  that  grand  hymn,  "Ich  habe  nun  den  Grund  gefun- 
den,"  was  John  Wesley's  version  of  the  same,  a  piece  as 
noble  and  inspiring  as  the  other  is  grovelling  and  lifeless. 
If  the  General  Synod's  Sub-Committee  had  been  content  to 
do  without  precise  correspondence  of  metre,  they  might  have 
taken  from  John  Wesley  some  twenty  German  hymns,  grace- 
ful, vigorous,  and  majestic.  But  they  sacrificed  the  spirit  to 
the  letter,  and  thereby  achieved  a  failure  the  more  disastrous, 
as  it  would  inevitably  be  taken  to  teaeh  some  lessons  which 
are  not  true,  foster  prejudices  against  what  must  be  the  line 
of  march,  progress  and  reform,  and  all  our  future  hymnology, 
and  so  increase  the  difficulty  of  really  doing,  at  a  late  day, 
what  had  been  here  undertaken. 

We  have  as  little  inclination  as  may  be  to  undertake  the 
cheerless  and  almost  useless  task  of  pointing  out  the  many 
faults  of  the  present  Collection  as  a  whole.  The  labor  would 
be  herculean,  and  thankless.  The  powers  that  be  will  not 
see  those  faults,  or,  if  they  see,  will  not  attempt  to  remedy 
them.  When  anything  is  hinted  against  the  book,  its  parti- 
sans are  apt  to  reply,  with  an  air  of  letting  no  more  to  be 
said  about  the  matter,  that  there  are  a  great  many  good 
hymns  in  it.  Of  course  there  are  ;  it  could  not  well  be  oth- 
erwise. Say  there  are  30,000  hymns  in  the  English  lan- 
guage ;  if  one  were  to  write  the  first  line  of  each  of  these 
on  a  separate  slip  of  paper,  put  them  all  into  a  hat,  draw  out 
1000  at  random,  and  therewith  make  a  hymn  book;  it  would 
doubtless  contain  some  very  good  hymns.  There  will  inevit- 
ably be  some  very  good  hymns  in  a  collection,  unless  one 
takes  express  pains  to  keep  them  out.  But  there  ought  to 
be  nothing  else.  A  complete  hymn  book  ought  to  contain 
all  the  really  good  hymns  in  the  language  ;  and  no  hymn 
book  should  contain  any  but  good  hymns.  Simple  and  self- 
evident  as  this  rule  may  appear,  we  do  not  know  an  instance 
in  which  it  has  begun  to  be  carried  out,  scarcely  one  in  which 
it  seems  to  have  been  recognized  in  theory.  Certainly  such 
a*  rule  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  getting -up  of  the  General 


222  Lutheran  Hymnology . 

Synod's  Collection.  No  one  who  has  half  an  eye  for  poetry, 
or  pretends  to  know  cobble-stones  from  diamonds,  will  under- 
take to  deny  that  that  compilation  contains  a  good  deal  of 
trash  and  twaddle,  and  a  great  deal  of  dreary  drowsy  dog- 
gerel.    This,  for  example,  is  impressive:   (No.  223.) 

"Our  days,  alas!  our  mortal  days.    'Evil  and  few,'  the  patriarch  says, 
Are  short  and  wretched  too  ;  And  well  the  patriarch  knew." 

Another  sample,  No.  409  : 

''The  wandering  star  and  fleeting  The  morning  cloud  and  early  dew 

wind,  Bring  our  inconstancy  to  view.'' 

Both  represent  the  unstable  mind  : 

Likely  enough  they  do,  and  it  is  very  proper  they  should  : 
but  what  have  these  facts  to  do  with  our  songs  of  praise  to 
almighty  God  ?  Does  He  need  to  be  instructed  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  every-day  knowledge  ?  Or  do  we  presume,  under 
pretence  of  addressing  Him  in  humble  worship,  to  fling  these 
dull  didactics  at  the  head  of  our  fellow-sinners  ?  There 
should  be  a  fitness  in  all  things,  but  there  is  none  in  drawl- 
ing out  these  loose,  lazy,  lifeless  moralities  to  the  Omniscient. 
Here  is  another  stanza  from  the  same  effusion  (409.) 

"We  sin  forsake,  to  sin  return  ;  In  deep  distress,  then  raptures  feel, 

Are  hot,  are  cold,  now  freeze,  now  We    soar   to   heaven,  then    sink  to 
burn :  hell." 

Is  that  praise  ?  Is  it  prayer  ?  Is  it  worth  dwelling  on, 
here  and  thus?  If  the  matter  of  it  be  expressed  at  all,  it 
should  be  done  in  another  spirit,  and  a  vastly  different  style. 
"God,"  said  Toplady,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Psalms  and 
Hymns,  "is  a  God  of  truth,  of  holiness,  and  of  elegance  ; 
and  He  should  be  worshipped  accordingly."  Too  generally 
is  this  forgotten  ;  too  seldom  have  orthodox  believers  at- 
tempted to  attain  in  things  pertaining  to  the  service  of  God's 
house,  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent.  A  gentleman,  says  the 
Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table,  will  never  be  more  a  gen- 
tleman than  in  his  hymns  and  prayers.  We  object,  and  we 
think  with  abundant  reason,  to  whatever  forces  men  upon  a 
lower  plane  and  level,  in  their  communion  with  their  Maker, 
than  they  are  fit  for  and  entitled  to  :  to  whatever  necessities 
the  use  of  rough,  uncouth,  incongruous,  heavy,  unmeaning, 
lame,  or  languid  matter — whether  prose  or  verse,  extempore 
or  liturgic — in  our  prayers  and  praises.  In  the  olden  days, 
nothing   which  had  a  blemish   could    be   offered  to  the  Lord". 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  223 

We  of  the  New  Dispensation  sometimes j  take  too  much  ad- 
vantage of  our  freedom  from  the  letter  of  the  law.  If  what- 
ever is  worth  doing  be  worth  doing  well,  our  hymnology  is  in 
a  sad  and  disgraceful  state  :  for  we  insult  the  Most  High 
with  much  that  is  unfit  for  human  use  ! 

The  principles  involved  in  these  remarks  apply  to  nearly 
all  the  standard  Church  Hymn  Books  in  existence.  The' 
General  Synod's  does  not  stand  alone,  nor  is  it  the  worst: 
the  Dutch  and  German  Reformed  Collections,  we  think,  reach 
even  a  lower  abyss  of  misery.  But  that  is  their  fault,  not 
our  virtue ;  and  their  wretchedness  does  not  make  us  better. 
It  is  a  stubborn  and  obnoxious  fact,  that  the  Hymn  Book 
now  used  by  probably  four-fifths  of  the  English  Lutheran 
Churches  in  America  would  be  improved  by  throwing  out 
one-half  its  contents,  even  were  nothing  added  in  their  place. 
There  is  no  use  to  multiply  examples,  or  adduce  further  ar- 
guments ;  any  one,  who  is  not  blind,  must  see  the  state  of 
things.  Fortunately  many  of  our  ministers  are  not  particu- 
lar, while  their  people  are  patient,  and  will  sing — or  let  the 
choir  sing — anything  that  is  given  out  with  enviable  pla- 
cidity. 

The  arrangement  of  the  volume  is  worse,  if  possible,  than 
the  selection.  That  it  is  utterly  unchurchly,  must  be  seen 
at  a  glance :  that  it  is  illogical,  appears  from  the  Scriptures 
preceding  their  Author,  and  Christian  Experience  coming 
before  the  Church  and  the  Means  of  Grace  :  that  it  is  ex- 
tremely inconvenient,  every  one  who  has  used  the  book 
knows  to  his  cost.  Who,  without  the  greatest  waste  of  time 
and  trouble,  can  find  anything  that  he  wants  under  such  a 
heading  as  "Christian  Experience,"  where  one  and  twenty- 
eight  lyrics  are  thrown  together  with  scarcely  a  pretence  of 
grouping  or  natural  succession  ?  Who  can  easily  hit  upon 
such  a  phase  or  treatment  of  the  subject  as  he  requires,  when 
"The  Kingdom  and  Church  of  Christ"  contains  seventy  effu- 
sions, two-thirds  of  them  utterly  worthless,  strewn  together 
in  admired  confusion  ?  The  book  produces,  on  an  impartial 
mind  which  seeks  to  study  and  use  it,  the  effect  of  a  tana-led' 
wilderness,  where  some  few  fruits  and  flowers  grow  indeed 
but  so  interwoven  with  and  choked  by  thorns  and  thistles', 
that  they  barely  repay  the  trouble  of  discovering  them. 

We  think  it  our  duty,  before  leaving  the  subject,  to  give 
an  instance  or  two  of  the  utter  carelessness  with  which  the 
book  was  put  together ;  the  lack  of  anything  like  conscien- 
tious thoroughness  and  attention  to  the  work.     Though  the 


224  Lutheran  Mymnology. 

Committee  state,  in  the  preface,  that  they  "threw  out  all 
duplicate?,"  no  less  than  four  such  remain.  See  hymns 
588  and  910,  578  and  903," 37  and  771,  724  and  986.  This 
offence  is  not  unfrequent  among  hymn  books;  but  we  do  not 
know  another  which  commits  it  to  sucli  an  extent.  Again  ; 
hymn  (358,  v.  4,  prays  that  our  children  may,  when  adults, 
be  baptized  by  immersion.  A  question  naturally  arises  :  if 
the  compilers  and  revisers  of  a  hymn  book  do  not  know  what 
it  already  contains  and  do  not  look  sufficiently  into  their  ad- 
mitted hymns  to  see  whether  the  same  contain  doctrines 
directly  contrary  to  their  own  belief  and  teaching, — how  far 
are  they  fitted  for  their  office,  and  how  much  good  can  be 
expected  to  come  of  their  labors  ? 

We  might  say  something  further,  more  weighty  and  im- 
portant than  anything  we  have  yet  urged.  We  might 
express  briefly  one  chief  result  of  a  long,  minute,  and  earn- 
est study  of  the  whole  subject  of  English  hymnology,  in  all 
its  varying  phases.  We  might  say,  not  in  the  spirit  of  a 
special  pleader,  not  in  view  of  where  we  personally  stand,  or 
what  we  personally  expect  to  do,  but  speaking,  in  all  honesty, 
from  serious  conviction,  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness, — 
that  the  General  Synod's  hymn  book,  like  most  others,  does 
not  correctly  and  adequately  represent  the  religion  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  The  idea  of  the  Master  is  not  worthily  worked 
out,  by  these  labors  of  his  servants.  One  side,  several  sides, 
of  Christianity  may  be  here;  not  the  entire  and  beauteous 
whole.  Some  truths  doctrinal  and  practical,  some  aspects  of 
Christ's  work  and  character,  some  phases  of  the  spiritual 
life,  may  be  here  exhibited  :  others,  to  our  view  as  important, 
as  necessary,  as  fundamental,  are  passed  by  in  silence.  The 
Gospel  has  as  it  were  been  cut  in  two,  and  half  of  it  is  pre- 
served in  these  English  hymnals.  Doubtless  there  is  enough 
in  this  half  to  save  us :  so  the  Epistles  without  the  Gospels 
might  be  enough  to  save  us,  or  John  and  Matthew  without 
Paul  and  Luke.  But  it  is  better  to  have  the  whole.  The 
New  School  system,  of  which  the  General  Synod  is  confes- 
sedly the  embodiment  and  type,  and  its  publications  of  course 
the  exponents,  is  supposed  to  pride  itself  on  its  piety.  Ex- 
perimental religion,  vital  godliness,  inward  spirituality, — it 
has  these  or  nothing.  Now  one  thing  that  we  consider  spe- 
cially unsatisfactory  about  the  book  before  us,  is  just  this 
point:  its jriety.  In  quality  and  degree,  in  size,  shape,  and 
complexion,  in  depth,  earnestness,  tenderness,  solidity,  sim- 
plicity, fervor, — it  is  deficient.     There   are  many   books  of 


The  Rand  of  God  in  the  War.  225 

poetry  that  are  much  better  devotional  reading.  The  re- 
sources of  pure  hymnology  afford  material  for  an  English 
volume  that  should  tower  above  the  General  Synod's,  in  this 
respect  alone,  as  Himalaya  to  an  ash-heap,  as  Gulliver  to  the 
Lilliputians.  The  piety  of  the  General  Synod's  Collection 
is  neither  so  healthy,  profound,  ardent,  lofty,  nor  consistent 
as  the  piety  of  a  Christian  hymn  book  ought  to  be  and  can 
be. 

We  might  (we  repeat  it)  unfold  and  enlarge  upon  the  idea 
barely  outlined  in  the  last  sentences :  an  idea  startling  per- 
haps to  many,  incredible  no  doubt  to  some.  We  might  ex- 
pand, enforce,  illustrate,  explain,  apply  :  but  we  will  not. 
One-half  our  readers  would  neither  understand  nor  believe  : 
and  the  rest,  who  need  no  such  instruction,  are  in  the  way  to 
have  the  want  they  feel  supplied,  and  the  reform  they  long 
for  accomplished. 

(To  be  concluded.) 


ARTICLE  V. 

THE  HAND  OF  GOD  IN  THE  WAR. 

By  F.  W.  Conrad,  D.  D.,  Chambersburg,  Pa. 

There  is  a  God.  As  Creator  he  made  all  things  by  the 
"word  of  his  power ;  as  Sovereign,  he  governs  them  by  the 
Hand  of  his  Providence.  Accordingly,  he  worketh  all  things 
after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  both  in  the  armies  of  hea- 
ven and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  War  is  one  of 
the  most  important  and  far-reaching  events,  which  can  occur 
in  the  history  of  nations.  And  as  God  exercises,  both  a 
general  and  a  special  Providence,  in  the  affairs  of  individuals 
and  nations,  war  cannot  arise,  continue,  and  end,  without  his 
knowledge,  permission  and  control.  And  this  is  the  truth, 
"to  a  candid  consideration  of  which  we  invite  the  attention  of 
the  reader  under  the  theme  :  The  Sand  of  God  in  the  War. 
I  The  Hand  of  God  is  seen  in  the  Origin  of  this  War. 
God  created  man,  permitted  his  fall,  and  determined  the  de- 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  62.         29 


226  The  Hand  of  God  in  the  War. 

velopment  of  his  depravity.  God  redeemed  man,  made  pro- 
vision for  bis  moral  recovery,  and  enacted  the  law  of  benevo- 
lence, as  the  rule  of  his  life.  Now  as  human  depravity  and 
human  redemption,  stand  in  contrast  with  each  other,  so  too, 
do  they  present  developments,  in  direct  opposition  to  each 
other.  The  development  of  man,  under  the  promptings  of 
depravity,  is  one  of  supreme  selfishness ;  his  development, 
under  the  influence  of  redemption,  is  one  of  disinterested 
benevolence.  One  of  the  grossest  forms,  in  which  human 
depravity  exhibits  its  selfishness,  is  characterized  by  the 
Scriptures  as  man-stealing,  which  consists  in  subjugating  man 
to  a  state  of  bondage,  by  the  exercise  of  might  in  violation 
of  right.  To  do  this,  is  to  treat  man,  in  a  manner  directly 
contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  which  enjoins  upon  each,  to  love 
his  brother  as  himself.  Man  depraved,  under  the  law  of 
selfishness,  craves  freedom  for  himself,  and  imposes  Slavery 
upon  his  fellow-man  redeemed,  under  the  law  of  benevolence, 
claims  Liberty  for  himself,  and  demands  Liberty  for  his 
fellow. 

The  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  under 
the  light  of  Revelation,  and  the  guidance  of  the  law  of  be- 
nevolence, announced  :  "These  truths  to  be  self-evident  ;  that 
all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator,  with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are, 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  This  constitutes 
the  American  declaration  of  personal  independence.  It  is 
the  authoritative  announcement  of  th^  political  equality  of 
all  men.  It  is  the  self-evident  expression  of  the  true  idea 
of  the  inalienable  rights  of  human  nature.  It  is  the  Magna 
Charta  of  Liberty. 

Alexander  H.  Stevens,  the  Vice-President  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  States,  has  announced  the  declaration  of  slavery, 
practically  adopted  by  them.  It  is  made  in  these  words  ; 
"The  prevailing  ideas,  entertained  by  Jefferson,  and  the  most 
of  the  leading  Statesmen,  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution,  were,  that  the  enslavement  of  the  African,  was 
in  violation  of  the  law  of  Nature  ;  that  it  was  wrong  in  prin- 
ciple, socially,  politically,  morally.  Those  ideas,  however, 
were  fundamentally  wrong.  They  vested  upon  the  assump- 
tion of  the  equality  of  the  races.  This  was  an  error.  Our 
new  government  is  founded  on  exactly  the  opposite  ideas. 
Its  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests  upon  the  great 
truth,  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man  ;  that 
slavery — subordination  to  the  white  race — is  his  natural  and 


EVANGELICAL 

QUARTERLY  REVIEW. 

NO.  LXIIL 


JULY,     1865, 


cuiivi  auuuuuucu  tu  tue  v^iiuiuu  as  legitimately  eieutcu  auu 
called  ;  for  by  this  rite  Moses,  Deut.  34,  designated  and  an- 
nounced to  the  people  the  call  of  Joshua  as  his  successor  : 
that  by  this  rite  the  person  called  might  be  confirmed  in  his 
confidence  that  the  call  is  legitimate  and  divine,  and  at  the 
same  time  be  admonished  that  he  is  destined,  dedicated  and 
as  it  were  devoted  to  the  ministry  and  service  of  God  ;  so 
hands  were  laid  upon  the  victims,  and  so  Joshua  was  con- 
firmed in  his  vocation  :  that  it  might  be  a  kind  of  public  and 
solemn  protestation  of  the  Church  before  God,  that  the  form 
and  rule  prescribed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regard  to  the  elec- 
tion and  vocation  were  complied  with  ;  so  Paul  tells  Timo- 
thy, 1  Tim.  5,  to  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  neither  be 
partaker  of  other  men's  sins ;  that  by  this  visible  rite  it 
might  be  declared  that  God  approves  the  call  which  was  made 
by  the  voice  of  the  Church  ;  for  as  by  the  voice  of  the  Church 
God  elects  ministers,  so  by  the  testification  of  the  Church  he 
approves  the  vocation  ;  so  the  vocation  of  deacons  was  ap- 
proved, Acts  6,  and  hence  it  is  that  God  dispenses  grace 
through  the  imposition  of  hands :  and  in  prayer,  when  it  is 
designed  especially  to  invoke  the  name  of  the  Lord  upon 
any  person,  hands  are  usually  laid  upon  him,  for  he  is, 
as  it  were,  offered  to  God  and  set  before  him,  prayers  being 
offered  that  God  would  be  pleased  to  bestow  his  grace  and 
blessing  on  him ;  so  Jacob  laid  his  hands  upon  the  children 
whom  he  blessed,  Gen.  48,  so  the  elders  laid  their  hands  upon 
the  sick  and  prayed,  James  5,  and  so  Christ  laid  his  hands 
upon  the  babes  and  blessed  them,  Mark  10.  *  *  And 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  63.        42 


328  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

this  earnest  prayer,  in  the  ordination  of  ministers,  is  not  m 
vain,  because  it  is  founded  upon  the  divine  command  and 
promise.  This  is  what  Paul  says  :  lThe  gift  which  is  in  thee 
by  the  putting  on  of  my  hands.'  '  Exam.  II,  221.  Thus 
it  is  seen  that  the  call  is  not  given,  but  simply  confirmed,  by 
ordination,  which  is  an  ecclesiastical  rite  that  is  not  indis- 
pensable, but  that  is,  nevertheless,  of  great  utility. 

This  article  completes  our  essay  on  the  Christian  Ministry. 
The  doctrine  exhibited  is  dear  to  those  who  would  be  faithful 
to  the  word  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  continue  in  the  way  of 
our  honored  fathers.  They  cannot  otherwise  than  contend 
earnestly  for  the  faith,  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and  pro- 
test solemnly  against  those  hierarchical  tendencies  which,  be- 
ing so  congenial  to  man's  natural  inclinations,  seem  to  be 
spreading,  even  within  our  own  Church,  with  fearful  rapid- 
ity. It  is  for  common  Christian  rights  and  privileges,  secured 
to  believers  by  our  common  Christian  faith,  that  we  are 
pleading,  and  we  cannot  be  indifferent  to  the  success  of  our 
plea.  We  are  confident  of  its  truth,  and  to  the  God  of  truth 
we  commend  it.  May  he  bless  it,  without  whose  blessing  all 
is  vanity ;  and  may  he  make  it  instrumental  in  leading  souls 
to  prize  their  precious  privileges  and  inalienable  rights,  as 
kings  and  priests  unto  God,  through  faith,  to  whom  he  has 
been  pleased  to  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; 
that  the  Church  may  be  faithful  to  her  Lord,  and  the  minis- 
ters not  ashamed,  while  they  are  servants  of  the  Lamb,  to  be 
servants,  also,  of  the  Lamb's  Bride  !  "We  preach  not  our- 
selves, but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord ;  and  ourselves,  your  ser- 
vants for  Jesus  sake."     2  Cor.  4  :  5. 


ARTICLE  II. 


LUTHERAN  HYMNOLOGY. 

By  Rev.  F.  M.  Bird,  A.  M.,  Philadelphia. 

The  Evangelical  Psalmist.    1859.    962  Hymns. 

As  the  music,  which  is  the  chief  feature  of  this  publica- 
tion, does  not  come  within  our  scope,  and  as  the  hymns  are 
substantially  the  same  with  those  of  the  General  Synod's 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  329 

Collection,  it  calls  for  very  little  in  the  way  of  critical  no- 
tice :  and  it  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  formal  description, 
or  account  of  its  surface  facts.  All  who  read  this  article  are 
likely  to  know  that  Drs.  Seiss,  McCron,  and  Passavant  were 
the  authors,  and  made  changes  enough  from  the  G.  S.,  the 
basis  of  their  labors,  to  constitute  a  distinctly  new  book, 
though  closely  related  to  the  old  one. 

The  principal  changes  were  as  follow  :  143  hymns  in  G. 
S.  were  omitted,  91  of  them  being  in  the  body  of  the  book 
and  52  in  the  Appendix :  while  98  new  pieces  were  added. 
(This  enumeration  does  not  include  the  Doxologies,  which  in 
the  Psalmist  are  scattered  over  the  last  seven  pages,  and  are 
not  numbered.)  Many  of  the  additions  were  gain,  many 
others  were  scarcely  worth  having.  The  majority  of  the 
omitted  hymns  were  better  out  than  in  ;  though  some  few  of 
them  were  a  serious  loss,  as  180,  "Holy  Ghost,  dispel  our 
sadness,"  which  the  compilers  may  not  have  known  to  be 
from  the  German.  Of  the  translations  which  form  so  prom- 
inent a  feature  in  the  G.  S.,  eleven  only  are  retained.  Be- 
ing what  they  are,  all  might  have  been  dropped  but  two,  and 
no  harm  done.  Taken  all  in  all,  these  changes  in  the  text 
constitute,  as  might  be  expected,  a  manifest  improvement : 
though  they  neither  leave  the  old  book,  nor  make  a  new  one. 
It  is  that  anomalous  and  unsatisfactory  thing,  a  hybrid. 

But  the  arrangement  of  the  Psalmist  is  something  which 
we  can  contemplate  with  decided  satisfaction.  No  compro- 
mise or  half-way  work  was  attempted  here,  but  a  thorough 
and  radical  reform.  The  immense  subject  of  "Christ,"  un- 
divided and  unarranged  in  G.  S.,  is  here  parceled  into  six 
appropriate  and  natural  subdivisions,  and  "Christian  Expe- 
rience" into  eight :  "Adoration  and  Praise"  begin  the  volume, 
and  "The  Word"  is  put  where  it  belongs,  as  a  Means  of 
Grace.  Although  the  editors  were  encumbered  with  tunes 
upon  the  page,  they  produced  an  order  of  sequence  so  far 
superior  to  that  of  their  predecessors,  that  even  if  they  had 
kept  the  matter  of  the  book  unchanged,  the  Psalmist  would, 
for  all  practical  purposes,  be  worth  the  General  Synod's  Col- 
lection twice  over. 

The  new  "Table  of  Contents"  implies  a  mild  effort  to  im- 
prove the  churchliness  of  the  work.  So  mild,  that  it  does 
not  extend  beyond  said  table ;  for  the  omissions  and  addi- 
tions do  not  specially  affect  the  character  of  the  book,  one 
way  or  another.  Taking  into  account  the  position  and  views 
of  its  compilers  (or  of  two  of  them  at  least),  the  book  is  a 


330  LutJicran  Hymnology. 

fair  sample  of  how  little  correct  tendencies  and  virtuous  in- 
clinations can  accomplish  towards  a  reformation  of  our 
hymnology,  in  the  absence  of  precedents  and  helps,  of  ac- 
knowledged codes  and  models.  Where  the  Psalmist,  with 
its  accompanying  "Church  Forms,"  is  used,  we  have  the 
anomaly  of  churches  very  tolerably  Lutheran  in  the  order 
and  style  of  worship  for  the  rest,  but  singing  constantly — 
unless  the  minister  have  wit  and  grace  to  keep  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  hymns  in  the  background — matter  wliich,  if 
not  anti-Lutheran,  will  be  often  un-Lutheran,  mildly  puri- 
tanic, methodistic,  or  humanitarian.  The  compilers  of  the 
Psalmist  made  no  small  improvements  on  what  had  been  be- 
fore ;  but  greater  improvements  must  be  made  yet,  before  we 
can  reach  our  true  ideal  Hymnology. 

New  Ohio  Collection.    3544-7  Hymns. 

The  original  preface  to  this  book  is  not  dated  (a  very 
wrong  practice  by  the  way)  and  we  know  not  in  what  years 
the  first  and  second  editions  appeared.  The  third  has  a  note 
dated  1858,  and  the  fourth  came  out  in  1863. 

The  copy  before  us  is  smaller  than  the  edition  of  1845, 
and  about  the  size  of  the  General  Synod's  24mo.  :  back  la- 
beled as  before,  "Lutheran  Hymns."  Pages  VIII,  330. 
No  "Prayers"  in  this  edition.  Title,  excepting  that  item,  as 
before:  "Collection  of  Hymns  for  Public  and  Private  Worship. 
Published  by  order  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Joint  Synod 
of  Ohio.  Fourth  Edition.  Columbus:  J.  W.  Osgood,  Prin- 
ter.    1863." 

In  some  respects  this  is  the  best  book  we  have  yet  had ;  it 
is  certainly  the  most  churchly.  But  of  that  presently.  The 
preface  states  that  it  is  new,  prepared  "without  special  refer- 
ence to  any  particular  hymn-book  now  in  use,  and  with  a 
view  to  meet,  as  nearly  as  practicable,  the  views  of  the 
churches  in  their  connection."  This  is  the  only  right  way. 
While  we  are  tied  down  to  the  past,  and  hampered  by  all  the 
blunders  and  failures  of  our  predecessors,  we  can  do  but  a 
half  or  quarter  work.  This  patching  up  old  books,  so  that 
the  two  can  be  used  together,  according  to  the  prefaces,  but 
not  according  to  the  facts,  is  a  poor  business.  If  a  book  is 
good,  be  satisfied  with  it:  if  merely  insufficient,  add  a  sup- 
plement ;  if  inherently  bad,  throw  it  away  and  make  a 
better. 

The  arrangement  is  bold  and  striking  :  none  of  our  books 
have  grouped  their  contents  under  so  few  large  heads.    Thus : 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  331 

1.  Praise  to  God,  No.  1.  II.  Works  and  Providence  of  God.,. 
11.    III.   Redemption:  1.  Fall  and  Depravity  of  Man,  23; 

2.  The  Redeemer,  33  ;  3.  Grace,  47  :  4.  Gospel  Call,  54  ; 
5.  Penitence,  64;  6.  Faith,  72;  7.  Justification,  80.  IV. 
The  Church  :  1.  In  General,  97  ;  2.  Public  Worship  and 
Lord's  Day,  107  ;  3.  Pastoral,  121 ;  4.  Congregational,  125; 
5.  Confirmation,  131  ;  6.  Missionary,  135.  V.  Festivals  : 
1.  Advent,  138;  2.  Nativity,  (Christmas)  145;  3.  New- 
Year,  152;  4.  Epiphany,  154;  5.  Passion,  (Good  Friday) 
155 ;  6.  Easter,  164 ;  7.  Ascension,  170 ;  8.  Pentecost, 
(Whitsunday)  174;  9.  Trinity,  182 ;  10.  Reformation,  190. 
VI.  The  means  of  Grace :  1.  The  Word  of  God,  194 ;  2. 
Baptism,  204;  3.  The  Lord's  Supper,  212.  VII.  The 
Christian  :  1.  Holiness  and  Prayer,  227  ;  2.  Various  Rela- 
tions and  Affections,  242.  VIII.  Special  Occasions :  1.  The 
Family  and  Schools,  267 ;  2.  National  Relations,  289 ;  3. 
Thanksgiving  and  the  Seasons,  293  ;  4.  Daily  Devotion,  299. 
IX.   Consummation:  1.  Death,  325 ;  2.   Resurrection,  339; 

3.  Judgment,  342 ;  4.  Eternity,  344. 

We  do  not  quitelike  this.  It  is  too  arbitrary,  even  violent. 
Subjects  are  torn  apart  and  put  together  somewhat  too  rough- 
ly, whether  they  will  bear  it  or  not ;  the  order  of  nature  and 
reason  is  not  enough  followed.  Penitence,  Faith,  and  Justi- 
fication are  subjective  matters,  belonging  to  man  ;  we  would 
not  put  them  with  the  Fall,  the  Redeemer,  and  Grace,  which 
properly  group  together  about  the  objective  head  of  Redemp- 
tion. They  belong  rather  in  the  neighborhood  of,  and  just 
before,  "The  Christian."  Of  this  last  by  no  means  enough 
is  made.  No  one  will  accuse  us  of  inclining  too  seriously  to- 
wards the  General  Synod's  mountain  of  "Christian  Experi- 
ence:" but  the  vast  and  varied  subject  of  the  Inner  Life, 
Graces  and  Duties,  Trials  and  Comforts,  Trust  and  Love,  re- 
quire vastly  more  than  forty  hymns  and  two  subdivisions. 
Be  as  churchly  as  we  may,  we  must  not  forget  that  we  are 
human.  That  humanity,  frail  and  foolish  as  it  is,  our  reli- 
gion does  and  must  recognize.  The  feelings  and  experiences 
that  belong  to  our  nature  and  condition,  must  come  into  a 
hymn-book.  Let  them  be  admitted,  but  not  emphasized. 
Let  us  understand  that  they  are  not,  and  cannot  be,  our  reli- 
gion, or  any  part  of  it:  and  within  that  limit  let  them,  as 
essential  parts  of  our  inevitable  humanity,  take  hold  on  our 
religion  as  strenuously  as  they  will.  We  do  insist  on  this, 
and  protest  against  any  mistaken  reform  which  would  throw 
our  humanity  in  the  shade,  and  drive  the  many  noble  hymns 


332  Lutheran  Ilymnology. 

of  living  faith,  hope,  love,  sorrow,  submission,  consecration, 
aspiration,  out  of  our  books.  If  we  mistake  not,  this  is  not 
the  spirit  of  the  unequalled  German  hymnology,  nor  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  And  on  this  point  we  have  a  little  quar- 
rel with  the  Ohio  book. 

Again:  to  set  down  the  Church  Year  simply  as  so  many 
"Festivals,''  seems  to  us  unworthy  of  the  solemnity,  import- 
ance, and  value  of  the  sacred  seasons  separately  taken,  and 
much  more  of  the  connected  whole,  of  that  grand  chain  of 
imperishable  truth,  that  sweet  succession  of  saving  facts,  that 
the  noble  condensation  and  completion  of  the  gospel  plan. 
Nor  can  we  be  contented  to  see  a  human  Festal,  however 
worthy,  set  beside  those  which  are  entirely  of  God.  Pre- 
cious as  Reformation  Day  is  to  us,  it  should  never  be  put  in 
the  same  list  with  Christmas  and  Easter  and  Whitsunday. 

We  come  now  to  the  Contents.  51  hymns  are  from  the 
German,  many  being  new  translations  by  members,  we  sup- 
pose, of  the  compiling  committee.  Nos.  23,  34,  46,  105, 
106,  182,  188,  208,  209  are  by  Rev.  M.  Loy :  103,  189, 
212,  218,  262,  266,  303  by  Prof.  L.  Heyl :  225,  by  J.  Sal- 
yards  :  4  by  J.  H.  Good  (who  these  two  were  we  know  not). 
Dr.  Mills  is  found  worthy  to  constitute  thirteen  :  five  are  ta- 
ken from  Dr.  Reynolds,  two  of  them  original  here,  Nos.  1, 
214:  Dr.  Alexander  gives  two,  one  not  usually  known,  143: 
one,  228,  is  from  Anderson's,  the  Edinburgh  translator  (and  a 
very  poor  one)  of  Luther's  hymns:  while  five,  marked  as 
new  here,  187,  231,  232,  241,  and  several  more,  are  anony- 
mous, being  credited  to  various  newspapers,  etc.  Besides 
these,  there  are  a  number  of  originals,  not  translations.  M. 
Loy  gives  seven,  Nos.  26,  207,  222,  223,  224,  239,  240,  and 
Mr.  Heyl  one,  226.  There  are,  moreover  a  number  marked 
f,  as  not  having  been  published  in  other  English  hymn-books. 
The  "Churchman"  gives  six,  "Church  of  England  Magazine" 
three,  "American  Messenger"  two,  &c.  Of  these  none  are 
noticeable   except   Mr.   Loy's,   which   are,    of   course,    very 

churchly.     The  best,  we  think,  is  one  on  baptismal  regener- 
ation, (we  see  no  reason  to  be   ashamed   of  the   name)  No. 

207. 

At  Jesus  feet  our  infant  sweet  We  here  embrace  his  proffered  grace 

We  lay  with  all  its  stain,  In  this  baptismal  wave, 

That  renders  it  for  heaven  unmeet  Nor  shall  the  world  our  trust  efface  - 
Until  'ti.s  born  again  :  The  bath  its  soul  will  save. 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  333 

We  fail  to  see  the  Holy  Three  But  who  can  tell  what  virtues  dwell 

Concealed  the  font  within,  Through  God's  word  in  that  flood, 

Mere  water  seems  the  mystery  Or  who  the  simple  faith  repel 

That  cleanses  us  from  sin  :  That  owns  it  Jesus'  blood  ?" 

There  are  some  pretty  steep  expressions  in  that.  The  last 
line  of  the  first  verse,  especially,  we  do  not  believe  in  at  all. 
Christ,  not  his  ordinance,  saves  the  child's  soul.  But  the 
piece  has  much  force  and  some  poetry,  and  we  give  it  as  a 
sample.  No.  225,  translated  by  "J.  Salyards,"  from  Wol- 
tusdorf,  affords  another  instance  of  how  a  true,  important, 
and  comfortable  doctrine  may  be  misrepresented  by  perverse 
and  exaggerated  expressions.  It  is  a  Lord's  Supper  hymn. 
Thus  begins  verse  2  : 

"Bread  most  holy  let  me  bless  thee!  Flesh  divine,  all  rent  and  riven, 
For  he  mingles  as  I  press  thee,  Wounds  my  guilty  race  has  given," 

&c. 

If  that  be  not  Romanism,  it  is  Consubstantiation,  which  is 
no  Lutheran  doctrine.  There  is  no  use  of  letting  our  good 
be  evil  spoken  of. 

The  translations  are  perhaps  better  than  the  General  Syn- 
od's, but  are  scarcely,  in  our  opinion,  a  success.  They  are 
mostly  not  taken  from  the  finest  or  most  famous  German 
hymns ;  the  metres  of  many  are  unfamiliar ;  and  their  En- 
glish dress  is  hardly  such  as  to  make  them  attractive  and 
useful.  The  best  perhaps  (after  the  two  by  Dr.  Alexander)  are 
34  and  188,  by  Rev.  M.  Loy,  from  Hiller  and  Selnecker : 

"God,  in  human  flesh  appearing,  "Let  me  be  thine  forever, 

Took  the  children  to  his  breast,  My  gracious  God  and  Lord  ; 

Lambs   with   his    green    pastures  May  I  forsake  thee  never, 

cheering,  Nor  wander  from  thy  word  : 

Fitting  for  his  heavenly  rest ;  Preserve  me  from  the  mazes 

This  is  gentleness  unbounded,  Of  error  and  distrust, 

This  is  lowliness  of  heart;  And  I  shall  sing  thy  praises 

All  are  by  his  love  surrounded,  Forever  with  the  just." 

None  are  ever  bid  depart." 

A  book  composed  of  one  part  matter  like  this,  translations 
and  originals,  made  or  taken  to  suit  their  own  views  and 
purposes,  and  five  parts  of  common  English  matter,  made 
long  before,  with  very  different  purposes  and  views,  must  of 
necessity  be  somewhat  incongruous.  We  presume  the  Com- 
mittee found  it  a  troublesome  and  uncongenial  task,  to  select 
the  three  hundred  inevitable  English  hymns.     This  appears 


•334  Lutheran  Hymnohgy. 

from  the  preface,  where  they  felt  "constrained  to  acknowl- 
edge, that,  with  more  time,  and  a  better  field  to  select  from, 
than  our  rather  barren  English  Hymnology,  their  work  could 
have  been  much  improved,  and  brought  into  closer  conformi- 
ty with  the  peculiar  wants  of  the  Lutheran  Church."  The 
rather  bold  expression  which  we  have  underscored,  is  in  one 
sense  true,  and  in  another  not.  Our  English  hymnology  is 
not  so  rich  as  the  German,  in  quantity  or  quality,  in  matter, 
meaning,  spirit,  or  style,  in  thought,  poetry,  or  devotion.  A 
mind  educated  in,  or  brought  to,  the  solid,  pure  faith  of  our 
Church,  will  find  a  dreary  deficiency  about  most  of  our  En- 
glish lyrics  ;  a  lack  of  force,  purity,  simplicity,  depth,  earnest- 
ness,— some  of  these  qualities,  or  all  of  them  at  once :  these 
hymns  do  not  say  what  we  want  said,  nor  say  it  as  we  would 
have  it;  they  are  cut  after  another  pattern  from  ours,  built 
on  a  different  foundation,  framed  in  accordance  with  other, 
and,  as  we  think,  less  correct  tastes :  all  this  is  true,  and  it 
is  proportionably  hard  to  make  a  really  Lutheran  hymn-book 
out  of  English  materials,  supplied  by  men  who  were  Dissen- 
ters, Methodists,  Calvinists,  Anabaptists,  every  sort  of  creed 
but  ours.  Not  that  any  thing  in  our  hearts  or  belief  pre- 
vents our  joining  in  worship  with  any  Christian  brother  of 
whatever  name;  but  that  the  effusions  of  these  said  brethren 
do  not  correspond  with,  and  come  up  to,  our  idea  of  what  is 
right  and  just,  and  true  and  proper.  In  atmosphere,  style, 
tone,  temper,  if  not  in  matter,  doctrine,  verbiage,  they  do 
not  meet  our  views.  Here  is  the  difficulty ;  and  so  far,  if 
the  Ohio  compilers — and  we  with  them — are  right,  our  En- 
glish hymnology  is  comparatively  barren.  But  'positively 
barren  it  is  not.  There  is  enough  matter  in  it, — if  one  only 
knows  where  to  find,  and  how  to  use  the  same, — which  will 
fit  our  purpose  very  tolerably  well.  To  the  Ohio  compilers 
it  may  have  indeed  been  barren,  but  it  is  not  necessarily  so 
to  every  one.  Their  opportunities  of  knowing  the  range 
and  capacity  of  English  hymnology,  were,  we  suppose,  lim- 
ited :  it  would  certainly  be  possible  to  get  three  hundred 
English  hymns  better  in  themselves,  and  better  adapted  to 
fit  with  German  translations  in  a  Lutheran  book,  than  those 
which  they  employed  for  that  purpose.  We  incline  to  fancy 
that  these  gentlemen  rather  took  for  granted  that  it  was  a 
hopeless  case,  and  paid  no  very  special  or  deep  attention  to 
the  matter ;  at  any  rate,  had  no  faith  in  the  possibilities  of 
their  work.  Without  such  faith  and  such  careful  labor,  a 
first-rate  hymn-book  can  never  be  made.     The  Ohio  book 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  335 

lias  its  merits ;  it  deserves  careful  and  favorable  attention, 
and  we  have  given  it  such :  but  better  things  can  be  done  on 
the  same  line,  and  the  Church  will  see  them  done. 

(xeneral  Synod's  Sunday  School  Hymns,  1860.  346+50  H.       (2 

It  cannot  be  a  greater  relief  to  our  readers  than  it  is  to 
as,  to  come  across  something  which  we  can  heartily  and  al- 
most unqualifiedly  commend.  The  little  book  before  us  is, 
for  its  purpose  and  in  its  place,  really  good.  There  are  a 
few  pieces  in  it  which  we  would  rather  see  out,  as  146,  147 
and  149  :  but  the  great  body  of  the  contents  is  more  nearly 
right  in  character,  spirit,  style,  tone,  tendency,  than  is  the 
case  with  anything  else  which  we  have  had  to  notice.  A 
cheerful  and  healthy  atmosphere  seems  to  pervade  the  work  : 
the  real  wants  of  children  have  been  kept  in  view,  rather 
than  some  half-pagan  system  of  impracticable  and  inhuman 
dogmas.  The  book  has  a  freshness,  simplicity,  tenderness, 
heartiness,  which  is  not  unworthy  of  the  relation  a  civilized 
Christian  Church  should  maintain  to  her  redeemed  and  bap- 
tized infants.  The  way  in  which  the  Festivals  are  brought 
out,  moreover,  marks  an  era  of  most  happy  progress  in  the 
right  direction.  We  are  almost  surprised  that  so  great  an 
advance  could  be  made  on  what  went  before.  Revs.  Albert 
and  Titus,  we  believe,  were  the  compilers;  and  their  work 
speaks  well  for  their  heads  and  hearts.  We  do  not  under- 
stand how,  with  such  a  book,  officially  and  of  the  Church,  in 
existence,  any  Lutheran  clergyman  can  think  himself  justi- 
fied in  using,  instead,  a  more  private  publication,  as 

Kurtz  s  Sunday  School  Hymns.     1860.     435  Hymns. 

This  is  an  enlargement  of  the  one  published  in  1843,  which 
we  noticed  as  Dr.  Passavant's.  As  far  as  hymn  251,  the  stereo- 
type plates  of  the  old  book  were  retained  and  used :  beyond 
that  is  an  Appendix,  prepared  by  Rev.  M.  Sheeleigh.  This 
part — except  twenty  hymns  at  the  end,  for  "Revivals  of  Re- 
ligion," which  have  no  business  in  a  Sunday  School  Hymn- 
book — is  not  open  to  the  objections  which  we  urged,  with 
some  earnestness,  against  the  earlier  portion.  The  Appendix 
contains  too  many,  to  our  taste,  of  the  loose  rollicking  lyrics 
which  are  commonly  considered  the  best  thing  for  young 
people  to  sin^,  but  from  which  our  official  Sunday  School 
book  is  happily  almost  free  :  but  otherwise  we  have  no  special 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  63.        43 


33G  Lutheran  Ilymnology. 

fault  to  find  with  it.  The  amiable  editor  himself  supplied 
seven  original  pieces,  Nos.  264,  286,  339,  375,  378,  380, 
398.  One  item  is  very  noticeable :  under  the  number  34G 
stands,  in  lonely  dignity,  part  of  Miss  Winkworth's  vigorous 
rendering  of  Luther's  Christmas  Carol. 

"Welcome   to   earth,    Thou  noble  Thou  cotn'st  to  share  our  misery : 
Guest,  What  can  we  render,  Lord,  to  thee?" 

Through   whom  this  wicked  world 
is  blest ! 

We  mean  no  disrespect  to  Mr.  Sheeleigh's  labors,  nor  to  our 
English  hymns  in  general :  but  the  sight  of  this  blessed 
German  heart-song,  coming  where  it  does,  refreshes  us  as 
springs  in  the  desert,  as  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a 
weary  land. 

Kurtz's  Infant  School  Hymns.     1860.     132  Hymns. 

Sometimes  bound  up  with  the  last,  and  sometimes  publish- 
ed separately.  It  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Sheeleigh,  and  No. 
116  is  his.  Infant  hymns  are  scarcely  open  to  criticism  ; 
and  we  should  think  the  half  hundred  added  to  the  General 
Synod's  Sunday  School  book,  were  quite  enough,  but  every 
one  to  his  taste. 

St.  Johns  S.  S.  Hymns.     1864.     75  Hymns. 

"Select  Hymns,  for  the  use  of  St.  John's  Ev.  Luth.  Sun- 
day School."  (Dr.  Seiss',  Philadelphia.)  Compiled  by  a 
committee  of  teachers,  not  published,  but  privately  printed, 
exclusively  for  the  use  indicated.  It  is  used  in  connection 
with  the  General  Synod's  Sunday  School  book,  especially  on 
Anniversaries,  etc. 

The  Hymnal  of  the  Future. 

We  have  fulfilled  our  promise,  and  given  an  account,  which 
we  at  least  intended  to  be  fair,  accurate,  and  full,  of  the  En- 
glish Lutheran  Hymn-book  of  the  past  and  present.  Our 
article  has  extended  to  a  length  we  did  not  anticipate,  and 
taken  up  an  amount  of  space  and  time  which  only  the  ac- 
knowledged importance  of  the  subject  could  justify.  We 
might  have  said  more,  we  might  have  said  less.  Whatever 
we  have  said  has  been  said  in  the  interest  of  truth  :  and  we 
are  glad  to  see — whether  by  expressions  of  assent  or  dissent 
is  of  little  moment — that  our  words  have  been  the  means  of 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  337 

drawing  increased  attention  to  the  subject,  and  calling  forth 
the  sentiments  of  others  thereupon.  Let  a  matter  be  fully 
discussed,  and  the  truth  will  appear.  But  "he  is  a  poor  re- 
former, who  merely  points  out  the  faults  of  existing  things, 
without  suggesting  a  remedy ;"  and  it  may  reasonably  be 
expected  of  us  to  indicate  the  principles  on  which,  in  our 
view,  a  true,  pure,  genuine,  sufficient  collection, — the  Hymnal 
of  the  Future, — shall  be  formed,  and  the  leading  features  by 
which  the  same  should  be  distinguished. 

I.  First,  then,  an  essential  prerequisite  to  the  production 
of  such  a  book  is  a  competent  knoivledge  of  Hymnology  by 
the  compilers.  Any  man  of  sense  would  be  apt,  at  first 
sight,  to  consider  this  a  self-evident  proposition.  One  would 
not  make  a  spelling-book  without  first  knowing  how  to  spell; 
one  does  not  publish  a  treatise,  however  elementary,  on  Bot- 
any or  Conchology,  unless  he  himself  possessed  at  least  the 
rudiments  of  the  science.  The  rule  holds  in  all  things  else ; 
why  not  here  ?  In  almost  every  walk  in  life,  for  nearly 
every  labor  in  the  world,  study,  experience,  acquaintance 
with  the  subject,  aptness  for  the  work,  are  considered  neces- 
sary. We  have  too  long  dispensed  with  them  here.  For  the 
last  hundred  years  it  has  been  customary,  throughout  Pro- 
testant Christendom,  for  whoever  had  a  mind,  (or  for  who- 
ever, not  having  a  mind,  was  appointed  thereto  by  the  con- 
stituted authorities,)  to  make  a  hymn-book  ;  though  he  might 
know  and  care  nothing  about  the  facts  or  the  principles  of 
H}7mnology,  about  who  had  written,  what  he  had  written, 
how  he  had  written,  and  what  use  should  be  made  of  his 
writings.  It  is  time  we  got  beyond  this  ;  not  only  for  the 
greater  credit  and  honesty  of  dispensing  with  errors,  mis- 
statements, negligences,  and  ignorance;  not  merely  to  avoid 
the  scandal  of  Christian  men  making,  using,  and  offering  to 
God  careless  and  unworthy  pieces,  of  work,  such  as  they 
would  disown  and  be  ashamed  of  in  their  secular  life :  but 
because  an  English  Hymn-book  cannot  be  in  any  respect  so 
good  as  it  may  and  ought  to  be,  unless  its  authors  have  a 
tolerably  minute  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  whole  range 
of  English  hymnology.  We  know  the  difficulties  of  the 
study.  The  subject  has  not  yet  been  reduced  to  a  science  ; 
its  principles  are  not  yet  digested,  its  theories  not  written 
down :  there  have  been  but  a  few  slight  and  partial  essays 
towards  this.  Of  the  externals,  the  facts,  the  materials,  it  is 
not  possible  at  this  day,  and  in  this  country,  to  have  a  com- 


338  Lutheran  Ilymnology. 

pletc  and  exhaustive  knowledge.  Still  we  can  do  something. 
Perfection  may  be  unattainable,  but  we  can  approximate  it. 
There  are  in  existence  probably  somewhat  over  one  thousand 
original  volumes  of  hymns  and  similar  sacred  poetry,  by  their 
various  authors.  These  are  the  sources,  fountains,  authori- 
ties. Two  or  three  hundred  of  them  are  of  more  or  less 
practical  importance,  as  containing  the  hymns  which  have 
been,  are,  might,  could,  would,  or  should  be  brought  into  use. 
From  these  books  alone  we  can  get,  with  perfect  accuracy, 
the  author's  text,  the  original  draft  and  shape  of  a  hymn. 
And  by  these  alone  can  one  ascertain  what  an  author  has 
written,  how  much,  and  how  well.  It  sometimes  happens 
that  some  of  the  best  hymns,  even  of  a  distinguished  writer, 
have  remained  unknown  and  unused,  and  can  be  found  only 
in  his  original  work :  and  more  frequently  that  his  own  text 
is,  at  least  in  some  respects,  better  than  the  mutilated  read- 
ings which  are  found  elsewhere.  Here  are  two  advantages, 
of  the  most  direct  and  practical  nature,  resulting  from  this 
examination  of  the  sources.  Moreover,  there  comes  thus  a 
certain  familiar  intimacy  with  the  men  and  materials  one  is 
dealing  with,  an  insight  into  the  history  and  heart  of  the 
subject.  The  careful  student  of  these  originals  is  no  longer 
a  mere  dabbler  at  the  science,  peeping  from  without  into  its 
mysteries  ;  he  has  taken  his  degree  and  entered  within  the 
shrine.  He  ceases  to  be  a  reaper  of  other  men's  harvests,  a 
compiler  from  other  compilations.  The  first  requisite  for  a 
thoroughly  good  hymn-book  is,  that,  abandoning  this  ignoble 
dependence  upon  others,  and  using  some  freedom  of  investi- 
gation, it  should  take  its  materials,  not  second-hand  from 
anywhere  as  it  happens,  but  (as  far  as  possible)  fresh  from 
the  pages  where  they  are  found  pure,  primitive,  legitimate, 
and  authoritative. 

But  this  is  not  all  that  must  be  done  in  pursuance  of  our 
first  rule.  We  must  know  not  only  what  hymns  have  been 
written,  but  what  have  been  sung.  We  cannot  afford  to  ig- 
nore any  land-marks  :  we  must  see  what  our  neighbors  have 
been  about  all  this  time,  who,  with  more  or  less  wisdom,  en- 
ergy, and  comfort,  are  traveling  the  same  road  with  us. 
There  are  in  the  English  language  we  know  not  what  num- 
ber,— probably  three  thousand,  perhaps  many  more, — of 
hymn-books,  selections,  collections,  call  them  what  you  will. 
These  are  important,  not  merely  as  containing  many  valuable 
iiymns,  which  appeared  for  the  first  time  thus,  and  as  giving 


Lutheran  Hymn  oh gy,  38$ 

an  infinite  variety  of  new,  and  often  improved,  readings; 
but  as  presenting  the  life  of  English  and  American  Christen- 
dom, past  and  present,  in  all  its  varying  phases.  Every 
operation  and  condition  of  the  human  mind,  more  or  less  un- 
der the  Divine  Spirit's  influence  ;  every  shade  of  doctrinal 
belief,  emotional  temper,  and  ecclesiastical  position;  almost 
every  shade  of  theology,  exegesis,  and  even  Church  history, 
is  either  exhibited  or  indicated  here.  (And  though  the  odd 
thousands  be  not  within  reach,  yet  several  hundred,  giv- 
ing some  idea  of  the  subject  on  a  small  scale,  may  be  found 
in  a  few  private  libraries  in  this  country.)  If,  after  faithful 
study  of  this  varying  and  conflicting  mass,  one  does  not  get 
at  the  truth,  his  mind  must  be  either  dull,  narrow,  or  preju- 
diced. The  wanderings  of  our  brethren  should  point  us  to 
the  true  path;  their  partial  darkness  should  help  us  to  a 
fuller  light.  If  "each  man's  life  is  all  men's  lesson,"  each 
hymn-book,  however  bad,  may  add  a  grain  of  instruction  to 
the  stock  of  him  who  would  construct  a  better.  "The  proper 
study  of  mankind  is  man  :"  and  they,  who  shall  compile  our 
ideal  Hymnals  of  the  Future,  must  find  their  proper  study 
in  the  Hymnal  of  the  Past  and  Present. 

II.  The  second  prerequisite  is  found  in  a  severely  correct 
judgment  and  thoroughly  refined  taste.  Hymns,  before  be- 
ing admitted,  should  be  subjected  to  a  much  stricter  criticism 
than  has  been  the  fashion.  We  do  not  mean  that  we  would 
reject  all  which  contain  the  first  person  singular  of  the  per- 
sonal pronoun,  or  change  it  to  the  plural :  nor  that  we  would 
cast  out  "There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,"  because  of 
the  sensuous  image  in  the  first  verse,  or  "How  beauteous  are 
their  feet,"  on  the  ground  that  the  feet  of  the  minister, 
in  some  particular  place,  may  not  be  literally  beautiful.  We 
do  not  mean  that  the  compiler  should  employ  any  narrow, 
arbitrary,  or  absurd  style  of  criticism  ;  that  his  taste  should 
be  finical  and  prudish,  and  overly  delicate;  much  the  con- 
trary. But  he  should  have  a  lofty  standard,  loftier  than  has 
been  known  yet :  that  standard  should  embrace  not  merely 
literary  and  poetic  excellence,  (though  these  include  more 
than  is  commonly  thought ;)  but  sense,  force,  doctrine,  tone, 
temper,  the  whole  character  of  the  piece  :  his  admitted  hymns 
should,  as  a  rule,  come  up  to  the  standard  :  and  there  should 
be  no  exceptions  to  that  rule,  except  for  some  sufficient  rea- 
son. Sterorhold  and  Rouse  might  do  for  two  hundred  years 
ago ;  many  of  the  hymns  yet  in  our  books  were  well  enough 


3-40  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

perhaps  when  they  were  written ;  but  the  world  moves. 
There  are  enough  really  good  hymns,  if  one  only  knows  two 
things;  first,  where  to  find  them;  second,  how  to  recognize 
them  when  found.  When  a  compiler  has  learned  these  two 
rules  well,  he  will  have  no  need  of  poor  or  negative  hymns 
to  eke  out  his  bonk.  Most  American  hymnals  seem  to  have 
no  standard  at  all,  but  contain  good,  bad,  and  indifferent  in 
pleasing  confusion,  all  sorts  to  suit  all  tastes.  A  happy  ex- 
ception is  found  in  the  Sabbath  Hymn-book,  by  two  Andover 
Professors.  1858.  It  has  a  standard  ;  and  the  consequence 
is  that  nothing  absurd  or  disgraceful  is  found  within  its 
covers  ;  all  the  contents  reach  a  certain  mark.  But  the  mark 
is  not  far  enough  up ;  the  standard  can  and  should  be  much 
higher. 

We  have  said  that  this  standard  includes  not  merely  liter- 
ary style  and  finish,  but  the  spirit,  tone,  and  what  we  must, 
with  the  painful  prospect  before  us  of  being  again  uncom- 
prehended  and  objected  to,  again  venture  to  call  doctrine. 
The  true  hymnal  should  have  a  manly,  robust,  large  faith  ; 
clear,  positive  views,  joined  with  the  broadest  charity.  It 
should  be  liberal,  not  loose;  enlightened,  not  emasculated; 
catholic,  not  crazy.  Its  limits  should  be  far  from  narrow, 
but  they  should  rigidly  be  guarded.  A  thing  cannot  be  let 
in  simply  because  it  is  pretty,  nor  simply  because  it  is  pious. 
Some  of  the  finest  sacred  poems  we  have  must  be  excluded, 
because  they  either  express  views  to  which  we  cannot  assent, 
or  breathe  a  spirit  which  we  do  not  approve.  For  instance, 
there  is  Charles  Wesley's  hymn,  "Lord,  I  believe  a  rest  re- 
mains." It  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  and  elegant  lyrics 
which  that  eminent  saint,  and  great  poet,  ever  wrote;  but  it 
is  throughout  a  description  of,  and  a  prayer  for,  positive 
perfection.  Some  non-Methodist  books  (not  any  of  our  Lu- 
theran ones)  retain  part  of  this  piece,  uselessly,  and  not  very 
honestly  trying  to  pretend  that  it  refers  to  the  heavenly  rest: 
which  is  a  patent  deception.  The  true  hymnal  cannot  do 
this  sort  of  thing.  It  may  regret  to  lose  so  fine  a  poem  ;  it 
may  see  that  the  tender  and  earnest  beauty  of  these  verses, 
objectionable  as  they  are,  might  sometimes  be  vastly  edify- 
ing ;  but  it  has  no  right  to  do  evil  that  good  may  come.  And 
here  we  bring  up  against  a  widespread  delusion,  that  has 
place  in  many  respectable  minds.  It  is  often  urged  that 
pojmlarity  is  the  highest  tribunal,  from  which  there  is  no  ap- 
peal ;  that  if  a  hymn  be  acceptable,  and  people  find  or  fancy 


Lutheran  Hymnohfpj.  341 

it  useful,  that  gives  it  effectual  sanction.  By  no  means. 
Things  in  themselves  abominable,  may  often  have  done  good. 
"We  have  no  doubt  that  some  of  those  peculiar  productions, 
which  we  thought  it  necessary  to  criticise  in  our  second  arti- 
cle, have  frequently  been  useful.  We  think  it  likely  that  sinners 
have  been  hopefully  converted  by  the  late  Elder  Knapp's  fa- 
vorite piece : 

"Good  morning  careless  sinner:  for  you  I  am  alarmed: 
Why  are  you  not  afflicted,  or  why  not  dead  and  damned?" 

Now  if  we  are  to  keep  everything  that  anybody  sees  fit  to 
like  and  to  fancy  useful,  especially  at  camp-meetings,  what 
an  unmeasured  mess  of  nonsense,  and  far  worse,  we  shall 
have;  and  what  a  terrible  amount  of  harm  will  be  done  along 
with  the  good!  No;  people  can  learn  to  be  moved  and  edi- 
fied as  well  by  good  poetry  as  by  doggerel,  and  to  get  and 
hold  their  religion  in  a  sound,  healthy,  rational  way,  as  easi- 
ly as  through  fanaticism  and  excitement.  Cannot  people  see 
that  it  is  not  a  mere  matter  of  expediency,  but  a  plain  ques- 
tion of  right  and  wrong  ?  If  a  thing  be  in  itself  amiss,  we 
have  no  right  to  do  it,  no  matter  what  we,  our  neighbors,  or 
the  Church,  may  gain  thereby.  God  has  given  us  taste  and 
judgment,  as  much  as  he  has  anything  else;  and  they  are  to 
be  a  sort  of  intellectual  conscience  to  us.  x\nd  therefore  we 
insist  that  they  must  be  used  in  their  "finest,  keenest,  largest, 
and  most  concentrated  action,"  in  the  making  of  the  ideal 
hymn-book. 

III.  The  last  prerequisite  is  a  thoroughly  broad,  liberal, 
appreciative,  catholic  spirit.  Those  who  would  compile  the 
true  Hymnal  must  not  be  bigots  or  sectarians.  No  narrow 
exclusiveness,  no  undue  attachment  to  some  favorite  forms  of 
truth,  should  blind  their  eyes  or  close  their  hearts  to  the 
merits  of  whatever  is  excellent,  in  whatever  way.  They 
should  be  able  to  turn  and  apply  the  ancient  motto  :  "Chris- 
1 1 'anus  sum  :  nihil  Christiani  a  me  alienum  puto  :  to  seek 
truth  in  the  most  unpromising  quarters,  to  acknowledge  ic 
readily  and  gladly,  wherever  found.  Our  Presbyterian 
brethren,  if  they  wish  to  improve  their  hymn-books,  must 
stop  throwing  into  the  background  the  American  Charles 
Wesley  ;  and  High  Anglicans  should  modify  their  contempt 
of  Watts  and  Doddridge,  though  they  were  Dissenters.  We 
ought  all  to  learn,  that  Hymnology  is  a  thing  almost  as  broad 
as  Christianity ;  and  that  is  much  larger  than  any  of  us 
know.     Accordingly   we    should    be    thankful    rather    than 


342  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

frightened,  if  the  Unitarian,  Sir  John  Lowring,  and  the  De- 
ist, Helen  Maria  Williams,  have  given  us  one  or  two  hymns 
fit  to  use.  On  the  same  principle  we  must  get  rid  of  our 
personal  prejudices,  and  be  willing  to  believe  that  the  hymns 
which  we  have  been  fond  of,  and  accustomed  to,  may  not  be 
the  only  good  ones,  nor  the  best,  in  existence.  We  must  get 
rid  of  a  notion  which  many  people,  knowing  precisely  noth- 
ing about  the  matter,  have  deeply  imbibed,  and  are  disposed 
s-trenuously  to  insist  upon  :  that  translated  hymns,  whether 
German,  Latin,  or  what,  can  be  of  no  use  ;  that  we  must 
keep  nearly  to  what  we  have  ;  that  our  real  resources  are 
confined  to  what  has  been,  or  shall  be,  produced  of  purely 
English  origin,  and  chiefly  to  such  as  have  already  received 
the  Church's  sanction,  and  are  more  or  less  known  and  pop- 
ular. This,  as  we  shall  see  by  and  by,  is  an  utter  mistake. 
A  spirit  thoroughly  appreciative  and  catholic  must,  perforce, 
be  independent :  it  will  recognize  and  bring  into  use  many 
hymns  which  spirits  less  catholic,  and  less  appreciative,  have 
failed  to  use  or  to  recognize.  In  the  songs  above,  there  is 
no  distinction  of  time  or  nation,  but  David  and  Isaiah  join 
with  Clement  and  Ephraim,  with  Gregory  and  Ambrose,  with 
Luther  and  Gerhard,  with  Watts  and  Wesley.  There  should 
be  as  much  as  possible  of  this  in  the  songs  below.  In  the 
ideal  Hymnal,  there  must  be  something  of  it.  The  religious 
views  and  practices,  the  style  of  thought  and  feeling  which 
prevail  in  one  course  of  the  world  and  at  one  particular 
hour, — these  are  not  catholic  Christianity,  only  a  small  part 
of  it.  It  is  not  what  loe  think,  but  what  others  think  too: 
not  merely  what  is  held  now,  but  what  has  been  held  since 
the  Day  of  Pentecost.  Doubtless  this  is  the  greatest  and 
wisest  of  the  ages,  but  every  age  thought  that  of  itself,  be- 
fore us.  The  last  eighteen  centuries  have  been  Christian 
ones,  and  some  respect  is  due  to  all  of  them.  It  is  not  only 
the  primitive  days,  nor  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  nor  the 
Wesleyan  Revival,  nor  the  present  time  of  activity  in  mis- 
sions, literature  and  speculation  :  we  should  give  a  hearing  to 
every  period,  and  take  something  from  each.  The  true  sys- 
tem, no  matter  in  what,  is  eclectic.  There  never  yet  was  a 
creed  or  a  communion,  a  set  of  men,  a  phase  of  thought,  or 
an  array  of  customs,  that  monopolized  God's  truth  and 
Christ's  grace.  Yet  some  have  had  far  more  of  these,  others 
far  less,  than  their  neighbors.  J)y  carefully  and  honestly 
studying  these,  dividing  the  tares  from  the  wheat,  rejecting 
that  which  is  evil  and  keeping  what  seems  pure,  we  are  likely 


Lutheran  Hymnology.  343 

to  come  as  near  as  human  nature  may,  with  its  present  op- 
portunities, to  the  ideal  Truth.  And  on  these  principles 
ought  the  ideal  hymn-book  to  be  constructed. 

These,  then,  are  th?  prerequisites  for  a  thoroughly  good 
Hymnal:  competent  knowledge  of  the  subject,  severely  cor- 
rect taste  and  judgment,  and  warm,  appreciative  catholicity 
of  spirit.  The  first  will  ensure  that  nothing  is  overlooked  ; 
the  second,  that  nothing  is  unworthily  admitted  ;  the  third, 
that  nothing  is  rejected  without  a  reason.  No  human  work 
can  expect  to  attain  positive  perfection  :  but  a  Hymnal  in 
whose  preparation  these  rules  were  implicitly  obeyed,  might 
reasonably  expect  to  be,  not  only  much  better  than  any  that 
we  have  yet,  but  as  good  as  can  well  be  made  now.  Some 
of  the  characteristics  of  such  a  book  appear  plainly  enough 
for  the  mere  enumeration  of  their  first  principles  :  it  would 
be  more  complete  than  any  collection  extant,  yet  not  so  large 
as  most :  it  would  be  entirely  tasteful  and  pure:  it  would 
contain  all  the  really  good  hymns  in  the  language,  and  no 
others.  But  we  need  to  give  some  further  description  of 
what  the  true  Hymnal  should  be,  according  to  our  notion. 

The  Arrangement  should  be  more  natural,  logical,  and 
convenient  than  we  are  accustomed  to.  The  subjects  should 
follow  and  run  into  one  another  of  their  own  accord,  so  that 
if  one  knows  what  he  wants,  he  should  know  where  to  find  itr 
with  no  other  help  than  the  one  general  Table  of  Contents. 
The  two  grand  natural  divisions,  of  the  Objective  and  the 
Subjective,  or  God's  part  and  man's,  should  apportion  the 
book  between  them.  Under  the  first  of  these  the  headings 
should  run  somewhat  as  follows  :  the  great  facts  which  save 
us  being  placed  mainly  where  they  belong,  under  the  Church 
Year,  and  there  presented  far  more  fully  and  worthily  than 
has  yet  been  done  in  any  American  hymn-book. 

I.  General  Hymns  of  Worship.  A.  Praise  and  Thanks- 
giving ;  B.  General  Petition;  C.  Lord's  Day  and  Public 
Worship.  II.  Divine  Nature.  III.  Creation  and  Provi- 
dence. IV.  Sin  and  Redemption.  V.  Advent.  VI.  Christ- 
mas. VII.  New  Year.  VIII.  Epiphany.  IX.  Example 
and  Teaching  of  Christ.  X.  Passion.  A.  The  Lenten 
Season ;  B.  Passion  Week ;  C.  Good  Friday ;  D.  Easter 
Eve.  .  XL  Easter.  XII.  Ascension.  XIII.  Christ's  Glory, 
Kingdom,  and  Priesthood.  XIV.  Jesus  Hymns  (hymns  of 
praise  and  praise  to  Christ,  of  communion  with  him  ;  hymns, 
dwelling  upon  his  person,  name,  office,  etc.)  XV.  Pentecost, 
Vol.  XVI,  No.  63.        44 


344  Lutheran  Tlymnology. 

XVI.  Trinity.  XVII.  The  Church.  A.  Her  Foundation 
and  Nature  ;  B.  Her  Persecution  and  Protection  ;  C.  Commu- 
nion of  Saints;  D.  Ordination,  Ministerial  Occasions,  Dedi- 
cation, etc.;  E.  Missions.  XVIII.  A.  The  Word;  B. 
Baptism  and  Confirmation ;  C.  The  Lord's  Supper.  The 
immense  advantage  of  much  of  this  arrangement  will  be  felt 
by  those  who  know  how  to  value  and  observe  the  Church 
Year  worthily,  and  who  have  felt  painfully  the  lack  of  sym- 
patic with  their  own  views  and  practices,  on  the  part  of  the 
books  in  use,  and  the  almost  utter  absence  of  hymns  fitted 
at  all  to  the  great  seasons  of  Advent  and  Epiphany.  From 
November  until  March,  and  often  at  other  times,  many  of 
our  clergymen  present,  in  their  sermons,  lessons,  and  prayers, 
a  class  of  topics  which  is  scarcely  touched  upon  in  the  hymn- 
books,  and  are  obliged  to  sing  of  other  matters,  and  in  other 
Strains,  than  those  which  fill  the  hearts  of  the  people.  The 
true  Hymnal  must  correct  this. 

The  arrangement  of  the  Subjective  part  should  be  some- 
what more  clear,  exact,  and  exhaustive,  than  we  have  yet 
seen.  Thus:  XIX.  The  Order  of  Salvation  ;  A.  Invitation; 
B.  Repentance;  C.  Faith  and  Justification ;  D.  Peace  and 
Joy.  XX.  The  Christian  Life.  A.  Consecration  ;  B.  Sanc- 
tification,  Outward  and  Inward;  C.  Love  to  God  and  Christ; 
D.  Trust:  1.  In  General;  2.  In  God  and  Providence;  3. 
In  Christ  and  Redemption;  E.  Following  Christ ;  F.  Hea- 
venly Spirit;  G.  Watchfulness  and  Fidelity;  H.  Wisdom 
and  Self-knowledge;  I.  Simplicity  and  humility;  K.  Be- 
nevolence. XXI.  The  Cross  and  Comfort.  XXII.  Occa- 
sions ;  National,  etc.  XXIII.  Children.  XXIV.  Private 
and  Family  Devotion,  Morning  and  Evening.  XXV.  Last 
Things.  A.  Preparation  for  Death ;  B.  Burial;  C.  Resur- 
rection; D.  Judgment;  E.   Heaven. — And  last,  Doxologies. 

Now  in  the  inward  part  of  this, — through  those  two  very 
extensive  and  most  important  heads,  the  Order  of  Salvation 
and  the  Christian  Life, — there  should  be  unity,  harmony, 
and  an  ascending  scale.  Repentance  should  begin  with  trem- 
bling, confession,  and  woe,  close  upon  the  Gospel  Call,  and 
gradually  ri?e  toward  hope  and  confidence,  till  its  last  hymns 
were  hardly  distinguishable  from  the  first  of  Justifying  Faith. 
This  again  should  ascend,  from  its  first  agonizing  cries,  filled 
yet  with  oppressive  sense  of  sin,  through  the  comforts'  and 
the  rest  of  full  belief,  till  it  loses  itself  in  Godly  Peace  and 
Joy.  It  would  be  delightful  to  dwell  upon  the  pagos  of  a  well 
constructed  Hymnal,  where  the  beauty  of  the   separate  con- 


Lutheran  Hymnology .  345 

tents  was  doubled  by  a  skilful  and  complete  arrangement, 
the  throbbings  of  a  thousand  divinely-led  human  hearts  meet- 
ing with  and  answering  each  other,  the  rich  experience  of 
different  creeds,  and  lands,  and  ages,  joining,  in  majestic  uni- 
son, to  pour  one  tide  of  solemn  grateful  song.  Now  it  is 
meek  submission,  now  fearless  constancy:  here  it  utters  the 
trembling  notes  of  half-doubting  hope,  and  presently  the 
eager  voice  of  ardent  aspiration  :  but  no  discord  creeps  into 
the  harmony,  no  passing  unworthiness  of  sense  or  sound  de- 
stroys the  charm,  no  feeble  break  of  thought,  nor  aggressive 
error  of  carnal  emotion,  nor  dull  defect  of  language,  offends 
the  ear  of  listeners  in  heaven  or  on  earth.  Our  hymn-books 
ought  to  be  means  of  grace:  but  they  have  commonly  been 
rather  proofs  of  innate  depravity.  Alas,  the  dreary  distance 
between  the  Ideal  and  the  Actual !  And  yet  the  Ideal  can 
be  realized,  in  no  small  measure. 

As  to  its  contents,  the  true  Hymnal  should  claim  some  lit- 
tle originality  ;  or  rather  it  should  differ  considerably  from 
any  other  volume  in  use,  or  in  existence.  Probably  two- 
fifths  of  its  material  would  be  new  to  those  who  would  em- 
ploy it.  The  whole  number  of  hymns  might  be  about  six 
hundred  :  of  these,  Dr.  Watts  and  Charles  Wesley  would 
give  about  one  hundred  each,  Doddridge  and  Montgomery 
some  twenty  each,  Steele,  Newton,  Cowper,  Toplady,  Kelly, 
and  John  Mason  (1683)  from  ten  to  fifteen  each,  and  a  varie- 
ty of  minor  authors  from  one  to  eight  each.  The  larger  part 
of  the  volume  would  be  taken  from  these  familiar  sources, 
though  in  unfamiliar  numbers  and  proportions.  For  instance, 
who  has  ever  yet  thought,  or  dared,  to  equalize  Watts  and 
Wesley?  With  the  Methodists  it  is  all  their  sweet  singer, 
while  all  the  Calvinists  cleave  sternly  to  the  Presbyterian 
muse.  In  media  Veritas.  The  true  Hymnal  shall  give  to 
each  his  due,  and  divide  the  apple  of  discord.  Again,  we 
doubt  if  any  one  collection  ever  printed  so  many  as  ten 
hymns  from  good  John  Mason,  who  died  fifteen  years  before 
Watts  began  to  publish.  Yet  those  ten  would  be  among  the 
brightest,  strongest,  most  intellectual  and  most  devotional 
poems  in  the  book.  We  said  before  that  the  selection  must 
be  unhampered  and  independent.  The  compilers  should  be 
tied  down  to  no  precedents,  to  no  prejudices,  to  no  narrow 
necessities  of  the  case:  whatever  seemed  sufficiently  good 
should  be  accepted,  whether  it  were  well  known  or  not  known 
at  all,  from  whatsoever  source  it  came, — whatever  was  adapt- 
ed, in  form,  matter,  spirit,  doctrine,  and  devotion,  to  promote 


34:6  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

the  knowledge  of  truth,  the  edification  of  believers,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Master :  and  whatever  seemed  not  so  adapted 
should  be  thrown  aside,  no  matter  what  associations  might 
have  wound  about  it,  no  matter  how  much  some  might  regret 
its  loss.  The  compiler  should  labor  after  the  old  Greek 
motto,  and  seek  to  be  best:  with  single  heart  and  eye  we 
should  go  about  this  work,  aiming  at  the  highest,  purest, 
largest,  noblest  result.  And,  thus  aiming,  he  will  reach  cer- 
tain conclusions  which  he  probably  did  not  at  first  anticipate. 
In  proportion  as  the  merits  of  our  English  hymnology  are 
honestly  acknowledged  and  freely  used,  its  defects  will  be- 
come apparent  too.  The  Ohio  compilers,  in  the  preface  to 
their  present  collection,  complain  of  "our  rather  barren  En- 
glish hymnology."  The  accusation,  though  hardly  just,  and 
implying  too  much,  aims  at  a  truth.  Our  English  hymnolo- 
gy is  a  garden  overgrown  with  weeds  and  brambles,  tangled 
and  in  sad  confusion,  but  containing  in  its  mazes  many  a 
fruit  and  flower,  some  of  them  beautiful  and  precious.  For 
a  time  the  eye  and  taste  are  satisfied  with  what  grows  there; 
but  by-and-by  a  sameness  is  perceived,  an  inadequacy  fan- 
cied ;  one  cannot  live  always  on  the  same  diet :  the  taste, 
educated  by  experience,  longs  for  viands  of  simpler  flavor 
and  richer  substance,  mure  suited  to  the  first  wants  of  appe- 
tite and  nature,  more  pure,  more  nutritious.  The  present 
writer  is  willing  to  confess  that  his  studies  in  this  department 
were  for  several  years  prosecuted  on  the  loose,  unchurchly, 
merely  English  basis.  He  thought  that  our  resources  must 
be  found  in  Watts,  Wesley,  and  the  rest  of  our  native  hymn- 
ists :  he  had  no  faith  in  translations  iVoni  any  other  lan- 
guages, and  no  idea  of  introducing  any  amount  of  new  ma- 
terial, or  attempting  any  radical  reform.  He  now  sees  that 
this,  which  has  been  the  view  commonly  held,  is  an  error;  he 
sees  that  this  error  was  with  himself,  as  it  is  with  a  very 
large  number  of  his  brethren,  simply  the  result  of  habit, 
prejudice  and  lack  of  better  knowledge  :  and  he  says  all  this 
about  it,  because  he  believes  that  any  man  of  fair  under- 
standing and  thorough  honesty,  who  gets  a  sufficient  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing  the  truth,  will  come  over  to  it  as  he  has 
done.  This  may  appear  to  some  a  small  matter  :  but  it  is  a 
very  careless  or  ignorant  view  that  regards  it  thus.  A  reform 
in  hymnology  will  include  and  produce  a  corresponding  re- 
form everywhere  in  Church  matters. 

The    deficiencies,    then,    of  our   English    hymnology  have 
•been  felt  and  acknowledged.     .No  subject  cau  be  exhausted; 


Lutheran  Ilymnologif.  84T 

but  the  writer  may  claim  to  have  attained,  far  an  American,, 
some  tolerable  knowledge  of  this.  And  it  is  his  serious  and 
positive  conviction,  arrived  at  deliberately  and  impartially,, 
after  a  hearty  and  admiring  study  of  all  that  is  best  in  the 
■whole  field,  that  our  native  English  hymns  do  not  fully  meet 
the  wants  of  the  Church  at  this  advanced  day  ;  that  they 
leave  some  important  Gospel  subjects  but  partially  developed, 
others  almost  untouched  ;  that  for  some  worthy  and  great  oc- 
casions they  do  not  supply  us:  that  some  phases  of  Christ's 
person  and  work,  and  of  the  relation  of  these  to  us,  they 
present  most  inadequately;  and  that,  with  all  their  beauties 
and  their  merits,  we  want  something  more.  And  where  shall 
we  look  for  this  additional  supply  ?  A  voice  from  God's 
"Word  seems  to  answer  :  "Stand  ye  in  the  ways,  and  see,  and 
ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  there- 
in." We  have  stood  in  the  ways,  and  seen  ;  what  we  fail 
to  find  around  us,  we  may  discover  by  looking  behind.  The 
centuries  have  been  singing  God's  praises;  can  we  get  no 
help  from  them  ?  We  turn  perforce  to  the  Church  of  our 
fathers  the  Reformers,  and  to  the  unbroken  communion  of 
primitive  and  mediaeval  days.  The  German  hymnology  is 
the  largest  and  finest  in  the  world:  the  Greeks  and  Latins 
have  their  treasures  of  sacred  song.  Let  us  address  ourselves 
to  the  work,  and  see  what  we  can  get  from  them.  Now 
hymns  made  to  order  are  detestable  ;  we  cannot,  without  the 
divine  afflatus,  manufacture  our  own  translations,  any  more 
than  our  own  originals  :  the  true  Hymnal  is  not  produced 
thus.  Therefore  we  must  find  what  we  may,  already  done  to 
our  hand. 

And  we  find  more  than  we  could  have  expected.  The 
Providence  of  God,  answering  to  the  want  and  desire  of  the 
most  intelligent  portion  of  English-speaking  Christendom, 
has  raised  up,  within  the  last  thirty  years,  translators,  as  he 
raised  up  original  hymnists  in  the  former  century.  Several 
gifted  and  appreciative  persons,  chiefly  members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  have  produced  works  of  great  intrinsic 
value,  and  well-adapted  to  practical  use.  Some  of  these 
have  appeared  within  the  last  decade;  and  one,  a  little  vol- 
ume of  rare  merit  and  of  exceeding  importance,  was  pub- 
lished but  three  years  ago.  From  these  books  our  ideal 
Hymnal  of  the  future,  selecting  with  the  same  care  and  taste 
which  it  bestowed  upon  the  hymns  of  native  English  origin, 
might  gather  fifteen  or  twenty  from  the  Greek,  chiefly  by 
Dr.   Neale ;  thirty   or   forty    from    the  Latin,  by  Chandler, 


348  Lutheran  Hymnology. 

Caswall,  Neale,  and  others;  and  near  one  hundred  from  the 
German,  half  of  them  by  Miss  Wink  worth,  the  rest  from 
John  Wesley,  Miss  Cox,  "Hymns  from  the  Land  of  Luther," 
and  several  minor  sources.  Some  of  these  translations  would 
be  found  to  have  all  the  force  and  grace  of  noble  original 
poems,  all  to  be  smooth  and  respectable.  It  might  take  peo- 
ple some  little  time  to  get  accustomed  to  the  new  atmosphere, 
the  tone  of  thought  and  feeling,  somewhat  different  from  the 
body  of  our  English  hymns:  but  whoever  overcame  the  first 
strangeness,  would  see  and  feel  the  exquisite  beauty,  the 
earnest  solemnity,  the  greater  solidity  and  purity,  the  deeper 
experience,  the  juster  views,  the  healthier  and  completer  pie- 
ty, the  general  sat isf actor iness  of  these,  as  above  and  against 
the  common  run  of  our  English  hymns,  even  some  of  those 
which  the  same  book  would  contain.  It  is  impossible  to 
study  these  German,  Greek,  and  Latin,  hymns  at  all  fully 
and  impartially,  even  through  the  medium  of  translations, 
without  gaining  a  deep  admiration  and  affection  for  them,  and 
a  consequent  distaste  and  discontent  with  much  that  we  are 
forced  to  sing  now.  Not  only  are  they  so  much  simpler, 
purer,  sweeter,  but  often  we  must  see  that  they  have  the 
truth,  when  our  English  lyrics  are  in  error.  Let  the  true 
Hymnal  lead  us  back,  then,  joyfully,  to  the  good  old  ways. 

Every  collection  of  mark  and  merit  published  during  the 
last  ten  years,  then,  will  be  found  to  contain  a  greater  or  less 
infusion  of  translations  from  the  German  and  the  Latin  :  and 
nearly  every  hymn-book  that  has  happened  within  that  time, 
whatever  its  origin,  and  character,  shows  something  of  the 
prevailing  turn  and  taste.  We  find  this  not  only  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  where  we  might  expect  it,  but  among  Presby- 
terians, Congregationalists,  Baptists,  and  Methodists.  The 
selections  are  not  always  made  with  great  care  or  taste,  and 
do  not  often  show  thorough  knowledge  of  the  field :  but  they 
unmistakably  indicate  the  direction  which  the  hymnologic  in- 
vestigation of  the  day  is  taking.  It  would  appear,  also,  from 
what  these  compilers  have  done  as  it  is,  that  had  they  been 
more  familiar  with  the  large  number  of  translated  hymns  re- 
cently added  to  our  literature,  their  selections  therefrom 
would  have  been  larger.     But  to  our  figures. 

In  Andrews'  "Hymns  and  Devotional  Poetry,"  (Low 
Church  Episcopal,)  1857.  460  hymns.  There  are  21  from 
the  German  and  7  from  the  Latin.  "Hymns  for  Church  and 
Home,"  (Episcopal,)  1860.  417  hymns.  20  are  German 
and  29  Latin.     In  Dr.  Boaidman's  Supplement  to  the  Old 


Lutheran  Hymnology .  349 

School  Presbyterian  Psalms  and  Hymns,  of  510,  28  are  Ger- 
man and  32  Latin.  In  Dana's  Collection,  (Presbyterian,) 
Charleston,  1860,  of  491  hymns,  14  are  from  the  German, 
15  from  the  Latin,  and  1  from  the  Syriac.  In  Robinson's 
"Songs  of  the  Church,"  (Presbyterian,)  1862.  1,193 
hymns.  16  are  German  and  9  Latin.  In  the  Sabbath 
Hymn-Book,  (Congregational,)  1858.  Of  1,290,  at  least 
40  are  German,  24  Latin,  and  2  Greek.  Dr.  Adams' 
"Church  Pastorals,"  (Congregational,)  Boston,  1864.  988 
hymns,  has  24  German  and  17  Latin.  Mr.  Beecher's  Ply- 
mouth Hymn-Book  ;  1855,  has,  of  1,374  pieces,  at  least  23 
German  and  17  Latin.  "Hymns  for  the  Church  of  Christ,  by 
Drs.  Hedge  and  Huntington,  (High  Arian,)  1853,  of  886,  33 
are  German,  34  Latin,  and  1  Greek.  (This  was  two  years  be- 
fore the  first  volume  of  Lyra  Germanica.)  Of  the  159  hymns 
annexed  to  Dr.  Osgood's  "Christian  Worship, ^(Unitarian,) 
New  York,  1862.  5  are  German  and  19  Latin.  One  or 
two  German  Reformed  compilations,  which  we  have  not  by 
us,  contain  a  number  of  German  translations.  We  might 
add,  as  corresponding  testimony  from  across  the  water,  that 
the  present  hymn-book  of  the  English  Congregational  Union, 
1855,  of  1,000  hymns  has  at  least  18  German  and  10  Latin. 
Paxton  Hood's  Brighton  Hymn-book,  (Congregational,)  1862, 
of  230,  has  8  from  the  German.  In  the  collection  put  forth 
by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  London,  1862,  of 
562  hymns,  16  are  German.  A  majority  of  these  books  are 
compiled  by,  and  for,  people  who  care  nothing  for  the  Festi- 
vals, for  the  distinctively  objective  presentation  of  Christian 
truth,  for  the  Churchly  System  as  a  whole,  or  in  any  of  its 
parts  :  people  who  probably  did  not  feel,  in  any  considerable 
measure,  the  deficiencies  of  our  English  hymnology,  and  who 
took  this  German  and  Latin  material,  as  they  would  have 
taken  anything  else,  simply  on  its  own  intrinsic  merits. 

If  we  turn  to  the  Church  of  England,  we  shall  find  testi- 
mony of  another  sort.  A  very  active  and  interesting  move- 
ment has  been  going  on  there  for  some  years,  which  has 
effected  great  change  in  the  hymnology  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, and  gone  far  to  produce  among  us  the  result  indicated 
by  the  statistics  above  given.  There  is  a  strong  reaction  to- 
wards the  old  ways  :  a  great  number  of  hymns  have  been 
produced,  which  are  either  translated  from  the  Latin,  or  writ- 
ten on  the  basis  and  after  the  style  of  the  old  Latin  models  ; 
and  there  is  a  tendency  to  use  these  largely  or  chiefly. 
Many  of  these  new-old  pieces  do  possess  unusual  merit. 


350  Lutheran  ITymnnhgy. 

The  Ecclesiological  Society's  Hymnal,  1856,  contains  105 
hymns,  all  from  the  Latin.  Of  Oldknow's  "Hymns  for  the 
Service  of  the  Church,"  Birmingham,  1854,  163  in  number, 
130  are  Latin.  Skinner's  Daily  Service  Hymnal,  the  last 
edition,  1864,  has  310  hymns,  of  which  125  are  from  the 
Latin,  and  22  from  the  Greek.  The  famous  "Hymns  An- 
cient and  Modern,"  of  which  a  million  and  a  half  copies  are 
paid  to  have  been  issued,  which  has  been  adopted  by  the 
British  Admiralty,  for  use  in  all  the  vessels  in  her  Majesty's 
service,  and  has  made  its  way  into  Caffrania  and  Madagascar, 
consists  of  273  pieces,  from  one-third,  to  one-half  of  which 
are  of  Latin  origin,  and  several  more  of  German.  Lord  Nel- 
son's Salisbury  Hymnal,  which  had  some  time  since  reached 
a  circulation  of  80,000,  is  of  similar  proportions.  So  is  a 
"Selection  of  Hymns  for  Public  and  Private  Use,"  1847. 
Nor  is  this  large  proportion  of  foreign  matter  found  only  in 
distinctively  High  Church  publications.  The  Collection  of 
the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  (300  hymns, 
published  at  two  pence)  contains  a  number  from  the  Latin  : 
as  in  many  of  the  other  books,  they  are  not  indicated,  and 
we  have  not  stopped  to  distinguish  and  count  them.  And  in 
Mercer's  Church  Psalter  and  Hymn-Book,  1859,  (Mr.  Mer- 
cer was  James  Montgomery's  pastor  during  the  poet's  later 
years)  of  510  hymns,  while  but  9  appear  to  be  Latin,  40  are 
from  the  German. 

Now  can  we  not  learn  something  from  all  this  ?  We  have 
no  right  to  say,  "These  men  are  not  of  our  way  of  thinking, 
we  have  no  concern  with  them."  The  wise  disciple,  while  he 
calls  no  man  his  master  but  Christ,  is  willing  to  own  some 
sympathy  with  any  of  his  brethren,  and  to  accept  some  in- 
struction from  each.  The  true  Hymnal  will  slavishly  follow 
none,  but  will  study  all,  and  then  strike  out  for  itself  what 
seems  the  right  path. 

We  have  only  one  thing  more  to  say,  and  that  concerns  the 
spirit,  tone,  feeling,  of  the  ideal  Hymn-book.  We  would 
have  a  book  with  more  force,  fervor,  passion,  poetry,  than 
perhaps  any  one  volume  that  we  know:  with  more  genuine 
feeling  and  experience  than  any  hymn-book  now  extant :  a 
book  most  thoroughly  and  intensely  human.  Only  it  should 
put  this  human  element  in  the  right  place,  and  use  it  in  the 
right  way.  It  should  distinguish  between  the  false  and  the 
true,  between  real  religion  and  the  things  that  may  happen 
to  really  religious  people.  It  would  not  present  vulgar  cru- 
dities, love-sick  fancies,  and  discontented  murmurs,  as  legiti- 


The  Sabbath,  a  Delight.  351 

mate  products  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But,  after  throwing  aside 
the  vast  mass  of  inferior  and  faulty  matter  with  which  our 
hymn-books  are  yet  loaded,  it  would  retain  abundance  of 
earnest  feeling  and  tender  human  interest;  it  would  still  be 
able  to  express,  with  a  richness  of  variety,  purity,  and  depth 
unknown  before,  the  thanksgivings  and  petitions,  the  strifes 
and  fears,  the  resolution  and  endeavors,  the  beliefs  and  long- 
ings, the  joys  and  hopes,  of  every  well-instructed  believer, 
every  right-minded  child  of  God  on  earth. 

We  have  said  enough.  Should  such  a  book  appear,  its 
path  would  not  be  one  of  roses.  Some  would  be  suspicious 
of  its  origin,  others  of  its  objects ;  many  would  not  compre- 
hend its  plan  and  spirit  and  scope,  the  ends  it  was  meant  to 
serve,  the  principles  which  would  underlie  it.  But  others, 
more  liberal  or  more  enlightened,  must  see  that  of  such  a 
book  there  is  sad  and  positive  need,  and  that  it  might  become 
a  great  agent — none  greater — for  the  spread  among  us  of 
pure  doctrine  and  correct  usage,  the  revival  of  just  views, 
principles,  practices,  the  regeneration  of  our  Zion  in  this  land. 
Then  may  the  true  Hymnal  soon  appear,  and  may  God's 
blessing  be  upon  it  long ! 


ARTICLE  III. 

THE  SABBATH,  A  DELIGHT. 
By  Joseph  A.  Seiss,  D,  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

There  is  a  Psalm,  the  ninety-second,  which  bears  the 
title:  "The  Sabbath  Day."  The  authorship  of  this  Psalm 
has  been  variously  stated.  Some  ascribe  it  to  Adam  in 
Eden,  some  to  Moses,  and  others  to  David.  It  is  hardly  to 
be  supposed,  however,  that  Adam  was  beset  in  Paradise 
with  the  workers  of  iniquity,  and  the  troublesome  enemies, 
of  whom  this  Psalm  speaks  ;  or,  that  either  Adam  or  Moses 
had  at  hand  the  psalteries,  harps  and  instruments  of  music, 
with  which  this  devout  singer  found  it  so  good  to  show  forth 
the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord.  If  tradition  ought  to  yield 
to  the  force  of  internal  evidences,  the  great  majority  of  in- 
Vol.  XVI.  No.  63.        45 


852  The  Sabbath,  a  Delight. 

terpreters  are  right  in  ascribing  this,  as  most  of  the  Psalms, 
to  Israel's  royal  singer,  the  son  of  Jesse.  But,  whoever 
may  have  been  its  author,  it  is  agreed,  that  it  is  an  inspired 
production,  and  that  the  title  which  it  bears  is  a  part  of  it. 
By  divine  authority,  it  is  a  "Song  for  the  Sabbath-day." 
From  this  Psalm  we  may,  consequently,  learn,  in  what  light 
to  regard  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  ;  what  that  is  winch 
accords  best  with  its  design;  and  how  a  heart  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  affected  with  regard  to  it.  That 
which  is  the  subject  or  occasion  for  song,  is  a  matter  of  gla  1- 
ness  and  rejoicing.  Singing  most  naturally  connects  with 
joy  and  pleasure.  David  continually  associates  it  with  emo- 
tions of  worship,  exultation,  triumph,  peace  and  hope.  "We 
never  sing  because  we  are  sad.  Dirge-like  lamentations  are 
not  unknown  to  sacred  psalmody ;  but  when  the  Scriptures 
urgf  us  to  sing,  it  is  never  for  sorrow  or  distress,  but  for  joy 
and  gladness.  When  God's  ancient  people  were  in  affliction, 
they  hung  their  harps  upon  the  willows,  and  said,  "Mote  can 
toe  sing  f"  According  to  the  apostle,  grief  calls  for  prayer  ; 
but,  "la  any  merryl  let  him  sing.'' 

If  the  Sabbath-day.  then,  is  a  time  for  song,  and  if  God 
has  inspired  and  appointed  songs  for  that  particular  day,  Ave 
are  not  only  authorized,  but  required,  to  regard  it  as  designed 
to  be  a  day  of  delight,  at  least  to  the  truly  devout.  A  day 
for  singing,  is  a  glad  day,  joyous  day,  a  happy  day ;  and  as 
such  I  propose,  at  present,  to  consider  the  holy  Sabbath-da  v. 

I  use  the  word  Sabbath  in  its  wider  and  less  particular 
sense.  There  are  some  Christians  who  are  reluctant  to  apply 
the  term  Sabbath,  to  the  day  kept  holy  by  the  Christian 
Church.  They  think  it  savors  too  much  of  Judaism  and  le- 
gal ceremonies.  They  prefer  to  speak  of  "The  Lord's  Day," 
or  Sunday.  I  have  no  controversy  with  any  on  these  points, 
though  I  think  Sabbath  a  name  quite  as  Scriptural  and  ap- 
propriate. It  means  rest;  and  the  Sabbath-day  is  simply 
the  sacred  Rest-day,  including  as  well  the  seventh,  on  which 
it  anciently  fell,  as  the  first,  on  which  it  is  observed  since  the 
time  of  Christ.  I  know  of  no  more  necessary  connection  of 
the  word  with  Jewish  ceremonies,  than  the  word  Sunday  has 
with  heathenism.  And  if  John  does  speak  of  ilthe  Lord's 
Day  ;"  Paul,  in  a  passage  quite  as  pertinent,  speaks  of  a 
ca33ar:5uoj — a  Sabbath  keeping ,  which  still  remains  to  the 
people  of  God.  The  ceremonial  regulations,  with  which  the 
Sabbath  was  surrounded  in  the  Mosaic  ritual,  have  passed 
away  ;  but  the  litit-day,  the  devotion  to  sacred  purposes  of 


THE 


EVANGELICAL 


QUARTERLY  REVIEW 


EDITED  BY 


is/l.  Ij_  stoever, 

Professor  in  Pennsylvania  College, 


VOLUME  XVI. 


GETTYSBURG: 
AUGHIXBAUGH  ft  WIBLE.  BOOK  ft  JOB  PRINTERS, 

CHAMBERSBCKG   STREET,    SECOXD   SQUARE. 

1865. 


CONTENTS  OF  NO.  LXI. 


Article.  **&'-■ 

I.  The  Reformation,  the  Work  of  God, 1 

By  Prof.  J.  A.  Brown,  D.  D.,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

II.  On  the  Origin  of  Species  by  means  of  Nat- 

ural Selections,  or  the  Preservation  of 
Favored  Races  in  the  struggle  for  Life.  ...11 

By  Rev.  Edward  F.  Williams,  A.  M.,  Uxbridge,  Mass. 

III.  Lutheran  Hymnology 23 

By  Rev.  Frederic  M.  Bird,  A.M.,  Philadelphia. 

IV.  Exbwplary  Piety  in  the  Ministry ......46 

By  Rev.  Milton  Valentine,  A.  M.,  Reading,  Pa. 

V.  Condition  of  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  Christ. .61 

By  Rev.  J.  H.  W.  Stuckenberg,  A.M.,  Erie,  Pa. 

VI.  The  Name  Jehovah 86 

By  Prof.  W.  H.  Green,  D.  D.,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

VII.  Pennsylvania  College .■ 103 

VIII.  Repose,  as  an  Element  of  Christian  Char- 
acter  , 118 

By  Rev.  Allen  Traver,  A.  M.,  Hillsdale,  N.  Y. 

IX.  The  Israelites  Borrowing  from  the  Egyp- 
tians   136 

By  B.  Kurtz,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

X.  Notices  of  New  Publications 146 


This  ably  conducted  organ  of  the  Lutheran  Church  con- 
tains for  the  present  quarter  :  The  Wisdom  of  the  World 
and  of  the  Church  compared  ;  Dr.  Kurtz's  Instruction  in 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Doctrine;  Study  of  the  Ancient  Class- 
ics ;  German  Language;  Deceased  Lutheran  Ministers- 
Precious  Stones  ;  Lord's  Supper  ;  Catechisation  ;  Mystical 
Union;  Responsibilities  of  the  American  Citizen  ;  New 
Publications. — American  Presbyterian. 

It  is,  as  usual,  full  of  valuable  matter,  some  of  it  unique 
and  not  likely  to  be  found  ehwhere.—Congregationam 

I  he    Evangelical    Review    contains  The   Wisdom   of    the 
\\  orld  and  of  the  Church  compared,  by  F.  W.  Conrad,  D  D 
The  author  illustrates  in  an  impressive  manner  the   truth  of 
the  saying    that  "the  children  of  this  world  in  their  genera- 
tion are  wiser  than  the   children  of  light."     It  is   a  stirring 
appeal  to  the  Lutheran  Church,  to  arouse  from  her  lethargy 
and  act  truly,  and  a  luminous  exposition  of  the  way  in  which 
this    may    be  done.     The  study  of  the  Ancient  Classics,  by 
Charles   Short,  A.    M.,  is  a  go-d  argument  in  favor  of  the 
study  of  the  Ancient  Languages,  and  of  classical  studies  in 
general  ;  The  German  Language,  by  Prof.  J.  W.  Nevin.  D. 
D.,  written  in  Dr.  Nevin's  usual  nervous  style,    is  a  merited 
enconmra  upon  the  German  Language,  showingthe  importance 
ot  studying  it.     Reminiscences  of  Deceased  Lutheran  Min- 
isters continues  the  interesting  series  of  Memoirs  of  departed 
Lutheran    Ministers,    the  present  number  beinc*  devoted  to 
Rev.  Charles    A.    Baer.     Precious   Stones   and   the  Lord's 
Supper  are  translations  from    Zeller's  Worterbach,  executed 
with  the  skill    which   we  are  accustomed   to  expect  from  Dr. 
Schaeffer  and  Prof.     Muhlenberg  ;   Catechisation,   by   Rev 
Thomas  Lape,  A.  M.     There  are    some  good  points   in  this 
article  on  a  very  important  subject.     As  the  next  number  be- 
gins  a   new  volume,  now  is  a  good  time  to  subscribe  for  the 
Quarter/?/.— Lutheran  Standard. 

The  Editor  has  presided  over  the  pages  of  the  Review 
with  singular  impartiality,  great  judiciousness  and  commend- 
able zeal.  Such  services  deserve  the  lasting  gratitude,  and 
call  for  the  necessary  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  Church.- 
Luttieran   Observer. 

We  cannot  overestimate  the  importance  of  the  Review  to 
the  Church,  or  insist  too  strongly  on  the  necessity  of  effort  on 
the  part  of  its  friends  to  extend  its  circulation  during  these 
depressing  times.  Prof.  Stoever  would  deserve  the  thanks  of 
the  whole  Church,  if  he  did  no  more  than  keep  the  Review  in 
being,  but  he  has  left  nothing  undone  to  give  it  life,  variety 
and  interest,  and  his  success  has  been  proportioned  to  his 
care. — Luth.  $  Mia. 


CONTENTS  OF  NO.  LXII. 


Article.  Page. 

I.  Dr.  Luthardt's  Contrast  of  the  Two  Gen- 

eric Aspects  of  the  World, 153 

By  S.  S.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

II.  Sartorius'  Holt  Love  op  God — Transla- 

ted prom  the  German, 173 

By  Rev.  G.  A.  Wenzel,  A.  M.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

III.  Elders. — Translated  prom   Zeller's  Bib- 

lisches  Worterbuch, 188 

By  Prof.  F.  A.  Muhlenberg,  A.  M.,  of  Pennsylvania  College. 

IV.  Lutheran  Hymnology, 193 

By  Rev.  Frederic  M.  Bird,  A.  M.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

V.  The  Hand  of  God  in  the  War, 225 

By  F.  W.  Conrad,  D.  D.,  Chambersburg,  Pa. 

VI.  Politics  and  the  Pulpit, 245 

By  Prof.  Henry  Ziegler,  D.  D.,  Selinsgrove,  Pa. 

VII.  The  United  States  Christian  Commission,  ....258 
VIII.  The  Poetry  of  the  Bible, 283 

By  Prof.  J.  A.  Brown,  D.  D.,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

IX.  Notices  of  New  Publications, .298 


This  Xumber  opens  Vol.  XVI.  Professor  Stoever  announces  the  rais- 
ing of  the  price  of  th  •  per  annum.  This  would  have  been 
little  enough,  even  in  the  best  times.  To  a-k  it  now  surely  re- 
quires no  apology.  Mr.  Bird's  very  thorough  and  able  article  ou  Lu- 
theran Hymnology  will  be  read  with  great  interest  and  its  continuation 
eagerly  looked  fur.  He  is  facile  princcps  among  the  rising  Hvmnol" 
and  his  labors,  if  his  life  be  spared  to  complete  them,  will  create  a  trea- 
sure house  of  sacred  song,  and  its  love  for  the  whole  Christian  Church. 
The  discussion  of  the  name  Jehovah  by  Professor  Green,  is  worthy  of 
the  subject,  and  the  ripe  scholarship  of  its  author.  Another  able-article, 
by  a  writer,  not  of  our  Church,  is  the  exposure  of  the  hollowness  of 
Darwin's  theory  of  species,  by  Rev.  E.  F.  Williams.  Pr  -ver 
has  had  remarkable  succea  '.ng  the  c  operation  of  good  writers 
in  the  larger  world  of  theology  and  literature,  aud  has  given  us  some  of 
the  best  things  from  the  best  pens.  The  articles  of  Dr.  Brown.  Rev.  M. 
ntine  and  Rev.  J.  H.  W.  Stuckenberg  are  very  good,  each  in  its 
kind.  Mr.  Trover's  article  on  "'Repose  as  an  Element  of  Christian  Char- 
acter," is  original,  carefully  wrought  out  and  suggestive.  Pro! 
Stoever  gives  us  one  of  his  characteristically  valuable  and  seasonable 
articles,  in  which  the  leading  facts  and  statistics  in  regard  to  Pennsyl- 
vania College  are  brought  together.  Dr.  Kurtz  closes  the  list  of  contrib- 
utors with  an  article  in  which  he  gives  some  very  sensible  views  on 
American  Slavery,  prefacing  them  with  a  discussion  of  the  borrowing 
from  the  Egyptians. — Lutheran  &  Missionary. 

This  is  an  unusually  rich  Xumber.  We  need  not  analyze  its  contents 
closely  for  it  is.  or  ought  to  be.  in  every  intelligent  Lutheran's  hard.  We 
note  with  pleasure  that  the  indefatigable  Editor,  Professor  Stoever.  has 
added  to  the  interest  of  this  volume  by  valuable  contributions  from  pens, 
outside  the  Church.  Professor  Green's  article  will  be  carefully  i 
Professor  Brown's  paper  is  a  plain,  vigorous  setting  forth  of  his  subject. 
Mr.  Bird's  article  on  the  Hymnology  of  our  Church  is  full  of  enrions  in- 
formation and  racy  criticism.  Mr.  Valentine's  paper  is  an  imnressive 
appeal  to  the  ministry,  well  worthy  of  careful  consideration.  We  thank 
the  author  of  Pennsylvania  College  for  interesting  details  and  statistics. 
It  is  a  paper  to  be  preserved  and  referred  to. — Lutheran  0 

Professor  Stoever  deserves  credit  for  the  ability  with  which  he  gets  up 
the  Review.  The  present  is  an  admirable  Xumber,  containing  some  ar- 
ticles of  great  and  permanent  value. — Lathe/'  rd. 

The  Evangelical  Review  for  January  has   made  its   appearance.     So 
far  as  we  have  examined  the  Xumber,  it  is  a  very  interesting  one. — 
■can  Lutheran. 

The  Evangelical  Review  is  edited  by  Professor  Stoever,  with  distin- 
guished zeal  and  great  devotion  to  the  good  cause.  The  fifteen  volumes 
of  tl  .  which  have  already  appeared  we  value  highly  as  the  most 

valuable  treasure  of  the  English  part  of  our  Church  iu  this  country. 
No  other  Lutheran  work  in  the  English  language,  can  be  compared  with 
it. — u2k  it<chrij't." 

The  January  Xumber  of  this  Quarterly  is  one  of  much  interest.  The 
work  continues  to  be  ably  edited  by   Pi  -     ever,  and  it  sp 

well  for  the  energy  and  activity  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  that  it  is  still 
sustained  under  all  the  pressure  of  the  times. —  German  Re  Mes- 

A  valuable  Xumber  with  a  great  variety  in  the  articles,  and  on  sub- 
jects of  present  interest.     A  high  tone  of  evangelical  piety  pervades  the 
The  terms  although  raised  are  but  $3  per  aunum. — American 
/itrian. 


CONTENTS  OF  NO.  LXlt 


Article.  Page*,- 

I.  The  Lutheran  Doctrine  op  Ordination, ...330 

By  Prof.  M.  Loy,  A.  M,,  Columbus,  0. 

II.  Lutheran  Hymnology,.-. -. .328: 

By  Rev.  Frederic  M,  Bird,  A.  M.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

III.  The  Sabbath,  a  Delight,... 351 

By  Joseph  A.  Seiss,  D,  D*,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

IV.  The  Ministers  op  the  Gospel,  The  Moral 

Watchmen  of  Nations, , ,. 366' 

By  F.  W.  Conrad,  D.  D.,  Chambersburg,  Pa. 

V.  "Know  Thyself:"  Personally  and  Nation- 
ally Considered, 393 

By  Hon.  Edward  McPherson,  A.  M.,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

VI.  Abraham  Lincoln,... 404 

VII.  Installation  Addresses — Charge. 426 

By  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  A.  M.,  Easton,  Pa. 

"     Installation  Addresses — Reply 434 

By  Prof.  C.  P.  Krauth,  D.  D.,  Jr.  Philadelphia. 

VIII.  Notices  of  New  Publications, 448 


I  he  Evangelical  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  is  confessedly  a  number 
bf  unusual  interest.  Its  matter  may  be  thus  classified  :  1.  Translations 
Dr.  Schniucker  gives  us  a  valuable  translation  of  Luthardt'a  Two  Generic 
Aspects  of  the  World;  Rev.   G.  A.   Wenzel  has  admirably  translated 

from  Sartorius'  Holy  Love  an  article  "Of  God,"  characterized  by  the 
earnest  devoutness  and  profundity  of  that  great  writer;  Professor 
Muhlenberg  renders  an  instructive  article  on  ''Elders."  from  Zeller's  Bi- 
ble Dictionary.  II.  Articles  for  the  Times. — Dr.  Conrad  on  ''The  Hand 
of  God  in  the  War,"  is  very  seasonable,  and  one  of  the  best  articles  he 
has  ever  written.  Dr.  Ziegler  discourses  of  "Politics  and  the  Pulpit," 
with  his  characteristic,  plain,-  manly  good  sense.  He  takes  hi-  position 
thoughtfully,  presses  his  argument  with  luminous  judgment,  and  estab- 
lishes them  almost  beyond  cavil.  "The  Christian  Commission,"  bears 
internal  evidence,  we  think,  of  coming  from  the  hand  of  that  active  and 
esteemed  co-worker  with  the  Commission  Professor  Stoever^  the  Editor 
of  the  Review.  It  is  a  general  survey,  both  of  the  principles  and  of  the 
work  of  the  Commission,  and  is  a  very  interesting,  useful  and  well  timed 
sketch.  Ill;  Sacred  Belles  Lettres, — Dr.  Brown's  article  on  the  "Poetry 
of  the  Bible,"  is  discriminating  aud  good.  His  remarks  upon  his  Bi- 
blical Parallelism,  and  his  illustrations  of  the  same  element  in  modern 
literature,  are  specially  valuable.  The  Article  of  the  number  which 
will  attract  most  readers  and  excite  most  feeling  is,  "Lutheran  Hymn- 
ology,"  by  Rev.  F.  M.  Bird.  It  is  thorough;  rich  in  biographical  and 
curious  detail  in  regard  to  a  thousand  points  of  interest,  on  which  Mr. 
Bird's  labors  are  the  first  to  shed  light.  Every  reader  of  the  Review  will 
look  anxiously  for  the  continuation  of  the  Article. — Lutheran  <£  Mis- 
sionary. 

The  translation  from  Luthardt,  by  Dr.  Schmucker^  is  interesting  as 
revealing  the  intense  bitterness  of  a  ministry  against  the  religion  of 
Christ  that  exists  in  the  minds  of  the  free-thinkers  of  Germany.  Di\ 
Conrad  with  a  bold,  fiery  rhetoric,  depicts  the  evident  working  of  God's 
hand  in  our  national  struggle.  Professor  Ziegler  demolishes  with  irre- 
vocable logic  and  pitiless  proof,  the  flimsy  position  that  religion  has 
nothing  to  do  with  politics.  He  shows  from  Scripture,  past  the  possi- 
bility of  a  cavil,  that  God  is  not  excluded  from  the  State,  and  that  his 
message  is  to  rulers  and  citizens,  that  the  pulpit  not  only  has  a  right 
but  is  bound  to  lay  down  the  law  of  God  respecting  the  duties  of  citi- 
zens. Professor  Brown's  paper  on  the  Poetry  of  the  Bible,  is  all  the  more 
pleasing  because  it  evinces,  that  he  can  wield  the  pen  of  the  ready  wri- 
ter as  well  in  the  field  of  rhetoric  as  in  the  domain  of  logic. — Lutheran 
Observer. 

"The  Evangelical  Quarterly  Review"  for  April,  is  on  our  table,  filled 
as  usual,  with  valuable  and  interesting  matter.  "The  Hand  of  God  in 
the  War,"  by  F.  W.  Conrad,  D.  D. ;  "Politics  and  the  Pulpit,"  by  Prof, 
Henry  Ziegler;  and  the  "Poetry  of  the  Bible,"  by  Prof.  J.  A.  Brown, 
D.  D.,  look  more  entertaining,  and  have  been  marked  for  future  reading. 
Professor  Stoever  furnishes  his  readers  in  this  number  with  an  interest- 
ing and  ably  written  article  on  "The  United  States  Christian  Commis- 
sion," showing  its  origin  and  the  great  work  it  has  accomplished  and 
the  good  resulting  therefrom.  The  liberal  spirit  on  which  the  Review  is 
conducted,  and  the  loyal  tone  which  characterizes  its  pages,  should  com- 
mend it  to  the  favor  of  an  intelligent  public Star  <(>  Banner, 

The  Evangelical  Quarterly  Review.  This  periodical  is  published  in 
Gettysburg  and  devoted  to  the  exposition  and  defence  cf  the  doctrines 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  The  April  number  before  us  is 
very  interesting.  The  articles  entitled  "The  Hand  of  God  in  the  War," 
"Politics  and  the  Pulpit,"  and  the  "United  States  Christian  Commis- 
sion," are  exceedingly  able  and  satisfactory  articles,  and  we  are  sorry 
that  their  length  forbids  their  transfer  to  our  columns. — Juniata  Senti- 
nel* 


CONTENTS  OF  NO.  LXIV. 


Article.  Page. 

L  Church  Music, 455 

By  Rev.  M.  Valentine,  A.  M.,  Reading,  Pa. 

II.  Reminiscenses  op  Deceased  Lutheran  Min- 
isters,  470 

III.  Natural  Theology,.... 480 

By  Henry  Ziegler,  D.  D.,  Selinsgrove,  Pa. 

IV.  True  Greatness,o 500 

By  H.  L.  Baugher,  D.  D.,  President  of  Pennsylvania  College. 

V.  The  Cross, 508 

By  Rev.  E.  W.  Hutter,  A.  M.,  Philadelphia. 

VI.  Marriage — Translated  erom  Zeller's  Bib- 

LISCHES   WoRTERBUCH, 526 

By  Prof.  Charles  F.  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

VII.  Inauguration  Addresss — Address 550 

By  A.  H.  Lochman,  D.  D.,  York,  Pa. 

"     Inauguration  Addresses' — Address 557 

By  J.  A.  Brown,  D.  D.,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

VIII.  Pilate's  Question,.. 577 

By  Levi  Sternberg,  D.  D.,  Hartwick  Seminary,  N.  Y. 

IX.  "The  Laborers  are  Few," 589 

By  Rev.  S.  A.  Holman,  A.  M.,  Altoona,  Pa. 

X.  Notices  of  New  Publications 599 


The  Evangelical  Quarterly  Review  for  July  contains:    The  Evan- 
:al  Doctrine  of  Ordination,  by   Prof.  Loy;  Lutheran   Hymnology, 

by  Rev.  F.  M.  Bird  ;  The  Sabbath  a  Delight,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Seiss ;  Minis- 
tera  of  '.he  Gospel,  the  Moral  Watchmen  of  Nations,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Con- 
rad ;  "Know  Thyself,"  Personally  and   Nationally  Considered,  by  lion. 
1   Iward  McPheraon;    Abraham   Lincoln;    Installation  Addresses,  the 
rge,  by  Rev.  B.  M.  Sehmucker,  and  the  Reply  by  Rev.  Dr.  C.  P. 
Krauth,  Jr.     Several  of  the  articles    are  characterized  by  high    literary 
excellence,  and  we  shall  endeavor  to  tind  room  lor  extracts. — New  York 
!<  list. 
This  Quarterly  is  published  at  Gettysburg  under  Ihe  auspices  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  and  is  edited  by  Professor  Stoever.     The 
July  number  contains   eight  articles,  including  the  usual   notices  of  re- 
cent publications.     Whilst  the  greater  portion  of  the  articles  are  denom- 
inational, there  is  still  food,  also,  for  the   outside  reader. — German  Re- 
formed  Messenger. 

This  is  au  excellent  number.  The  article  on  "Hymnology"  is  as  full 
of  interestyas  its  predecessors.  Dr.  Seiss  on  the  "Sabbath"  puts  forth 
his  usual  power  and  eloquence.  Dr.  Conrad  handles  his  subject,  "Min- 
isters ol  the  Gospel,  the  Moral  Watchmen  of  the  Nations,"  like  a  mas- 
ter. Mr.  McPherson's  article  is  original,  ingenious  and  striking.  The 
article  on  "Abraham  Lincoln"  is  a  most  valuable  contribution. — Luth- 
eran Observer. 

The  July  No.  of  this  Quarterly  has  reached  us  with  its  customary 
promptness.  The  number  is  an  interesting  one,  and  although  from  the 
plan  of  the  work,  our  ministers  could  not  expect  to  agree  with  all  that 
it  offers,  we  do  not  see  how  they  can  well  get  along  without  it. — Luther- 
an Standard. 

The  Evangelical  Quarterly  Review,  (July,)  opens  with  an  able  and 
learned  article  by  Professor  Loy  on  the  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  Ordina- 
tion. The  second  article  closes  Mr.  Bird's  wholly  unique  and  masterly 
discussion  of  Lutheran  Hymnology.  Dr.  Seiss  presents  the  Sabbath  as 
a  Delight,  in  a  very  admirable  and  practical  manner.  Dr.  Conrad  ex- 
hibits "Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  Moral  Watchmen  of  Nations. 
The  Hon.  Edward  McPherson  with  his  characteristic  philosophical 
thoughtfulness  considers  the  proposition  "Know  Thyself,"  in  its  appli- 
cation to  persons  and  nations.  The  main  contribution  of  the  Editor, 
Professor  Stoever,  to  the  number  is  a  full  and  appreciative  exhibition  of 
the  life,  services  and  character  of  our  noble  and  lamented  President. 
The  seventh  article  embraces  the  Charge  of  Rev.  B.  M.  Sehmucker  and 
the  Reply  made  to  it  at  the  Installation  of  the  Professors,  October  4th, 
1864. — Lutheran  &  Missionary. 

The  Evangelical. Quarterly  Review  for  July  is  already  out.  The  pre- 
sent number  seems  to  be  better  than  any  proceeding  it.  Hon.  Edward 
McPherson,  contributes  "Know  Thyself,"  written  in  the  author's  usual 
vigorous  style.  It  is  worth  a  careful  perusal.  The  article  on  Abraham 
Lincoln,  by  Prof.  Stoever,  runs  through  twenty-two  pages,  and  is  a  just 
tribute  to  our  martyr-President.  It  is  interesting  throughout  and  can 
be  read  with  much  profit. —  Gettysburg  Star. 


f 


Gay  lord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syraouie,  N .  y 
MT.  JAN.  21,  IJM 


